What remains of the star that exploded just outside our galaxy in 1987? Debris has obscured scientists’ view, but two of NASA’s X-ray telescopes have revealed new clues. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-reclusive-neutron-star-famous-supernova.html…
Tag: neutron star
Astronomers spot bizarre, never-before-seen activity from one of the strongest magnets in the universe
Astronomers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) and CSIRO have just observed bizarre, never-seen-before behavior from a radio-loud magnetar—a rare type of neutron star and one of the strongest magnets in the universe. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-astronomers-bizarre-never-before-seen-strongest-magnets.html…
Astronomers discover new candidate redback millisecond pulsar
Astronomers report the finding of a new candidate redback millisecond pulsar (MSP) binary associated with a gamma-ray source known as 4FGL J0940.3–7610. The newly found object is a short-period compact binary exhibiting X-ray emission that consists of a low-mass neutron star and a companion star with a mass most likely over 0.4 solar masses. The discovery is detailed in a paper…
Multi-messenger astronomy offers new estimates of neutron star size and universe expansion
A combination of astrophysical measurements has allowed researchers to put new constraints on the radius of a typical neutron star and provide a novel calculation of the Hubble constant that indicates the rate at which the universe is expanding. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-multi-messenger-astronomy-neutron-star-size.html…
Superfluid used to make sounds that might be heard in neutron star
Nobody will ever hear the sounds produced inside a neutron star, but we have created what might be the next best thing using lithium atoms that behave like a superfluid Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2261852-superfluid-used-to-make-sounds-that-might-be-heard-in-neutron-star/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Galaxy’s brightest gamma-ray binary system may be powered by a magnetar
A team of researchers led by members of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) has analyzed previously collected data to infer the true nature of a compact object—found to be a rotating magnetar, a type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field—orbiting within LS 5039, the brightest gamma-ray binary system in the…
Hubble sees the brightest kilonova yet
Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal intense infrared radiation from an unusual kilonova probably created by the collision of neutron stars. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/unusual-kilonova-infrared-light-neutron-stars-grb…
Neutron star merger results in magnetar with brightest kilonova ever observed
Long ago and far across the universe, an enormous burst of gamma rays unleashed more energy in a half-second than the sun will produce over its entire 10-billion-year lifetime. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-11-neutron-star-merger-results-magnetar.html…
What is a supernova?
A supernova is a star’s colossal explosion at the end of its life, potentially outshining its entire galaxy. Read about the causes and types of supernovae here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-supernova…
Detection of a short, intense radio burst in Milky Way
New data from a Canadian-led team of astronomers, including researchers from the McGill Space Institute and McGill University Department of Physics, strongly suggest that magnetars—a type of neutron star believed to have an extremely powerful magnetic field—could be the source of some fast radio bursts (FRBs). Though much research has been done to explain the mysterious phenomenon, their source has thus…