Introduction
After a black hole second densest object in the universe is a Neutron star, Neutron stars have such a strong gravity that if life existed upon them the life would live in a 2D world. And Magnetars (type of neutron star) are so strong that they can tear you from 1000 km distance. And in this post we are going to tell you everything about neutron stars so let’s dive right in.
What are neutron stars ?
Neutron stars are the second densest object in the universe, they have an average density between 3.7×1017 to 5.9×1017 kg/m3 along with such a high density it also has a huge mass; only one neutron star has a mass between 10- 25 solar masses. You may have a question “How large are neutron stars ?”
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| Neutron star, Image source : Sky at night |
A neutron star may have a mass 10 times that of the sun but has a diameter of only 20 km. You can imagine how small it is ,and how compressed matter would be. It is like if we take 10,00,000 earth and compress them into the size of a city. And with such a density it also has a high temperature of about 10,00,000 kelvin. Our sun has a temperature of only 5778 kelvin.
And with so much mass comes extremely strong gravity. The gravity of a neutron star is so much that light bends near a neutron star and if you go near a neutron star you will start to tear apart and become a thin string of atoms crashing into the neutron star with a speed of 1,00,000 miles per sec. And along with this neutron star rotate with an average speed of 43000 times per minute.
Neutron stars are so powerful that when two binary pairs of neutron stars start to merge it releases extremely strong gravitational force which is so powerful that it can remove a close planet from its orbit and when both the stars merge they form a black hole.
How do neutron stars form ?
Neutron stars are formed when giant stars are at the end of their life. When the hydrogen fuel of the star, having mass ten times of the sun or more, starts to end as it goes through a supernova it loses control over the gravity. The entire star due to its own gravity starts to collapse in its own core; this forms a neutron star.
The star due to gravity becomes so dense that light around the neutron star starts to bend and form a weird effect around the neutron star. The entire star is compressed so much that even the nucleus of atoms also starts to fuse which creates strange matter. If a neutron star is compressed a little more it would transform into a black hole.
Types of neutron star
Based on there mass and special characteristics there are two types of neutron star-
- Pulsars
- Magnetars
Pulsars
Neutron stars have a magnetic field which is a trillion times stronger than earth. And due to such a strong magnetic field it releases radiation, charges and electrons from its pole, along with this due to such a strong magnetic field they spin with average speed 43000 times per minute.
They mostly don’t have poles and rotational axis aligned , and when the star rotates and releases charges, for an observer far away it would appear as a pulse. Thus this kind of neutron star are Pulsars. Pulsars were first observed in 1960s, The astronomers saw some stars were flickering or pulsating in an patern, thus name was given pulsars.
Magnetars
Magnetars are a special type of neutron star having a magnetic field 1000 times stronger than another neutron star. They acquire his quality from the core from which they are formed. They have one of the strongest magnetic fields in the universe.
They rotate once in 2 or 10 sec and release huge amounts of energy and electromagnetic radiation like gamma rays and x rays. They are so powerful that if you reach 1000 km away from a magnetar your body would start to tear off and electrons would start to get different from your body.
Which is the closest neutron star ?
There are around one billion neutron stars in our universe and around 3200 neutron stars in our galaxy milky way. But the closest neutron star observed till now is the RXJ185635-3745. This neutron star is located 400 light years away from us. It is present in a constellation called Corona Australis. It has an age of around 1 million years.
Which is the biggest neutron star ?
Till now we told you many things about a neutron star, but now we are going to tell you about the largest and heaviest neutron star observed till now. The name of this massive Neutron star is PSR J0952-0607. This massive neutron star is present 3200- 5700 light years away from us and is present in a binary pair. This Neutron star is a pulsar and has a mass of about 2.35 solar mass. It is also the second fastest rotating pulsar.
Can a neutron star become black hole ?
Answer is yes, A neutron can also become a black hole. It is a rare event which doesn’t happen many times. This occurs when one moving neutron star gets too close to another neutron star and they start to merge due to gravity which ultimately forms a Black hole.
This also occurs when two neutron stars are present in a binary pair, they also merge and form a Black hole. When these two neutron stars start to merge they release extremely strong gravitational waves and energy of 100 million suns is released at once.
How does a neutron star die ?
Unlike any other star, neutrons don’t die with a massive explosion but it dies slowly and gets a cold death. With time neutron stars start to lose energy as most of the energy gets released by its radiation, with loss of energy it starts to slow down its process and gets colder and colder with time. And ultimately all of its energy is lost and it's a cold dead star in the universe.
A normal neutron star has a life of about 1010 years but this could be increased or decreased due to its mass and size. A pulsar has a shorter life as it constantly releases energy and has a lifespan of about 10 million years. A magnetar has the smallest lifespan as it releases radiation in a high amount and has a strong magnetic field it dies in 10,000 years only.
Conclusion
We hope that you have learned something new today about the Neutron star. Important point of today's post were -
- After a black hole second densest object in the universe is a Neutron star
- They have a high temperature of about 10,00,000 kelvin.
- a neutron star rotates with an average speed of 43000 times per minute.
- The gravity of a neutron star is so much that light bends near a neutron star.
- The astronomers saw some stars flickering or pulsating in a pattern, thus the name was given pulsars.
- Magnetars are a special type of neutron star having a magnetic field 1000 times stronger.
- There are around one billion neutron stars in our universe.
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