A Lonely Neutron Star
Explanation:
How massive can a star get without imploding into a black hole?
These limits are being tested by the discovery of a lone
neutron star in space.
Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope
have been combined with previous observations by the
X-ray
ROSAT observatory and
ultraviolet
EUVE
observatory for the isolated star at the location of the arrow.
Astronomers are able to directly infer the star's size from
measurements of its unblended brightness, temperature, and an upper
limit on the distance.
Assuming that the object is a
neutron star of typical mass,
some previous theories of neutron star structure would have predicted
an implosion that would have
created a black hole.
That this
neutron star
even exists therefore allows a window to the extreme
conditions that exist in the interiors of neutron stars.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
