The Heaviest Neutron Star Ever Seen Got There by Feasting on its Companion - by spacewriter
A spinning neutron star periodically swings its radio and gamma-ray beams past Earth in this artist’s concept of a black widow pulsar. The neutron star/pulsar heats the facing side of its stellar partner to temperatures twice as hot as the sun’s surface and slowly evaporates it. Filippenko and collaborator Roger Romani, a professor of physics at Stanford University, along with graduate student Dinesh Kandel, co-authored a paper about this object.
“By combining this measurement with those of several other black widows, we show that neutron stars must reach at least this mass, 2.35 plus or minus 0.17 solar masses,” said Romani, who is a professor of physics at Stanford and a member of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology. “In turn, this provides some of the strongest constraints on the property of matter at several times the density seen in atomic nuclei.
“The evolutionary pathway is absolutely fascinating. Double exclamation point,” Filippenko said. “As the companion star evolves and starts becoming a red giant, material spills over to the neutron star, and that spins up the neutron star. By spinning up, it now becomes incredibly energized, and a wind of particles starts coming out from the neutron star. That wind then hits the donor star and starts stripping material off, and over time.
The pulsar PSR J0952-0607 and its faint companion star support this origin story for millisecond pulsars. “These planet-like objects are the dregs of normal stars which have contributed mass and angular momentum, spinning up their pulsar mates to millisecond periods and increasing their mass in the process,” Romani said.
“In a case of cosmic ingratitude, the black widow pulsar, which has devoured a large part of its mate, now heats and evaporates the companion down to planetary masses and perhaps complete annihilation,” said Filippenko.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Heaviest Neutron Star Ever Discovered Is a “Black Widow” Devouring Its MateObservations of faint, planet-size star help weigh its millisecond pulsar companion. A dense, collapsed star has shredded and consumed nearly the entire mass of its stellar companion and, in the process, grown into the heaviest neutron star observed to date. It is spinning at 707 times per second —
Leer más »
'Black widow' is heaviest neutron star after devouring its stellar companionAstronomers have spied the heaviest neutron star to date 3,000 light-years away from Earth. The 'black widow,' a dense, collapsed star that's devouring its stellar companion, also spins 707 times per second, which also makes it one of the fastest spinning neutron stars.
Leer más »
'Castaway' gamma-ray bursts come from distant early galaxiesNew findings indicate that intense and mysterious bursts of radiation originate from neutron star mergers that occurred in the early universe.
Leer más »
NASA Releases Hubble Image of Most Distant Star Ever SeenNASA just released a Hubble Space Telescope image of Earendel, which they say is the most distant and ancient star ever observed.
Leer más »
See a black hole surrounded by rings of light in this remarkable NASA photoNASA has captured a new image of a black hole surrounded by rings made out of material the black hole is siphoning from its companion star.
Leer más »
Make sure your pet's tags, microchip information is up to dateIf your dog or cat gets lost, the information on their tags, chips, must be up to date to help
Leer más »