neutron star tagged posts

Neutron star mass and radius measurements from atmospheric model fits to X-ray burst cooling tail spectra. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2017; DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201731082

Neutron stars are made out of cold ultra-dense matter. How this matter behaves is one of the biggest mysteries in modern nuclear physics. Researchers developed a new method for measuring the radius of neutron stars which helps them to understand what happens to the matter inside the star under extreme pressure. A new method for measuring neutron star size was developed in a study led by a high-energy astrophysics research group at the University of Turku, Finland. The method relies on modelling how thermonuclear explosions taking place in the uppermost layers of the star emit X-rays to us...

1. Astrophysicist Ken Chen ran 2D simulations with Berkeley Lab’s CASTRO code on NERSC’s Edison supercomputer to better understand the physical conditions that create superluminious supernova.
Credit: Ken Chen, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan 2. Superluminous Supernova simulation in 2D generated with Berkeley Lab developed CASTRO code. (Credit: Ken Chen, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)

Sightings of a rare breed of superluminous supernovae – stellar explosions that shine 10 to 100 times brighter than normal – are perplexing astronomers. First spotted only in last decade, scientists are confounded by the extraordinary brightness of these events and their explosion mechanisms...

An artist’s representation of what the three unusual tails of the pulsar Geminga may look like close up. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is giving astronomers a better look at pulsars and their associated pulsar wind nebulae, enabling new constraints on the geometry of pulsars and why they look the way they do from Earth. Credit: Nahks Tr’Ehnl

Like cosmic lighthouses sweeping the universe with bursts of energy, pulsars have fascinated and baffled astronomers since they were first discovered 50 years ago. In 2 studies, international teams suggest that recent images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory of 2 pulsars – Geminga and B0355+54 – may help shine a light on the distinctive emission signatures of pulsars, as well as their often perplexing geometry.

Pulsars are a type of neutron star...

Artist’s rendition of a typical millisecond pulsar binary system in which the shape of the companion star (l.) is deformed by the gravitational pull of the pulsar (r.) seen emitting beams of radiation. Credit: NASA

A professional astrophysicist and an amateur astronomer have teamed up to reveal surprising details about an unusual millisecond pulsar (MSP) binary system comprising one of the fastest-spinning pulsars in our Galaxy and its unique companion star. Their observations are the first to identify “star spots” on an MSP’s companion star. Plus, the observations show that the companion has a strong magnetic field, and provide clues into why pulsars in some MSP binaries switch on and off.

John Antoniadis, a Dunlap Fellow with the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University ...