The universe is jam-packed with weird, mind-bending
celestial bodies that often test the outer
limits of our understanding of theoretical
physics.
Throughout history, every now and then - a
few cosmic flies in the ointment have turned
up, leaving physicist’s scratching their
heads, saying - yeah, this is *how* it should
work but, yeah - it’s anyone’s guess really.
One of those particular cosmic weirdos in
question is the infamous neutron star - the
strange, wilderness era for any lucky solar
sun in their celestial life cycle of the universe
- where after being really big, they get really
small, and really dense - and physics just
has to just leave them be and let them do
their thing.
But what if our sun, suddenly - and out of
nowhere, became a Neutron Star?
Let’s find out.
Hello internet, what’s going on - and once
again welcome back to the most inquisitive
channel on YouTube - Life’s Biggest Questions.
As per usual, I’ll be your disembodied floating
voice Jack Finch - as today, we curiously
ask the question - What If Our Sun Was A Neutron
Star?
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that clip was
from Danny Boyle’s sci-fi extravaganza,
Sunshine - and yeah, come on guys - this video
is about our sun, so we’ve at least gotta
build some visual tension and atmospherically
set the scene.
Right?
Right.
It leads us to an important point though,
because - there *are* no visual depictions
of a Neutron Star, because, well - they’re
so weird and so small that all the technology
on the planet still couldn’t manage to muster
a few snapshots of the strange and mysterious
solar bodies - but that’s okay, because
we’ve got everyone’s favourite visual
supplement to set the scene - theoretical
physics!
Right then, so - neutron stars.
What are they - and what’s the big deal?
Well - in short, neutron stars are the collapsed
cores of massive suns - but they have a few
very particular parameters that they need
to meet before they can call themselves Neutron.
Our sun, Sol - is pretty middle of the pack
when it comes to the weirdness of far-flung
celestial bodies - but Star’s with a much
larger mass that our sun burn out after just
a few million years - in a massive, galaxy-rocking
explosion known as a supernova.
During a supernova, all of the inner cosmic
mush of the star in question, millions of
tons of plasma and neutrinos - get ejected
out from its core at the speed of light.
But, strangely enough - sometimes, there’s
something left behind.
And that little guy, is a Neutron Star.
Now, it’s important to note that - our Sun
will never become a Neutron Star, because
it doesn’t meet those very specific set
of parameters and conditions needed for it
to turn into one.
Neutron Stars are born from suns that are
ten to twenty times the size of Sol - and
in around 5 billion years, the life cycle
of our sun will lead it to become a red giant,
and then eventually a cold white dwarf - which
is vaguely similar to a neutron star, without
the weirdness - just much larger and far less
dense.
But we don’t want that, do we?!
Because this is a hypothetical Life’s Biggest
Question - and we want to know what this would
mean for our Sun, and how damn dangerous things
would get - very, very quickly.
What, you didn’t expect a happy ending,
did you?
Well, it’s no kept secret that a neutron
star is one of the strangest things in our
universe - it’s right up there with dark
energy and white holes, giant flying spaghetti
monsters, Cthulhu and all his buddies.
Because after spending it’s life as an absolutely
massive star - post-supernova, it shrinks
down to roughly the size of a small city - around
20km from head to toe, but you know that star’s
are spherical, don’t you - so don’t worry
about metaphorical appendages.
The thing is though, the fact that these things
absolutely tiny on the scale of the universe
- it doesn’t account for the fact that a
single cubic centimeter of a neutron star
weighs roughly 400 million tons.
A single cubic centimeter!
Now multiply those centimeters by several
hundred million - and you get, yes - a pretty
hefty small boi.
In fact, even at that size - thanks to the
weirdness of a Neutron Star’s physics, it’s
gravitational force would be roughly 2 billion
times stronger than Earth’s.
That means, quicker than a rat up a drainpipe
- every single planet in our solar system
would be instantly pulled toward the Neutron
Star and destroyed in a hail of cosmic hellfire.
Eh, that’s not so good.
Also, things wouldn’t just end there either,
because these little guys rotate at a phenomenal
speed outside of our given understanding of
galactic orbit.
Whereas our Sun rotates once every 27 days
or so - a neutron star would rotate roughly
700 times EVERY SECOND - and it would be hurtling
through space at one-fifth the speed of light
like a toddler at a Red Bull convention.
In fact, if our sun was a Neutron Star - we’d
likely never even know it - as life, and everything
in the galaxy would swiftly come to an end
in a spark of an instant.
That’s if our Sun suddenly morphed into
a Neutron Star - but what if one of these
guys came hurtling at us from the deep depths
of space without a second thought?
Even though a Neutron Star is roughly only
20 kilometres wide, when compared to our planet
which has a diameter of 13’000 km you may
think that it’d be just like getting hit
by an asteroid - but we’re also forgetting
how heavy these things are.
Remember when I said a single cubic centimeter
of a Neutron Star weighed roughly 400 million
tons?
Well, yeah, if it impacted our Earth - it
would be like shooting a bullet through a
watermelon.
It’s one of the few cosmic entities in the
known universe that would literally obliterate
a planet by passing through the core of a
planet - and exiting out of the otherside
- 360 no scope and all.
Yeah.
It’s safe to say these guys are pretty deadly,
and under any theoretical scenario - things
would be really, really bad if our Sun ever
became a Neutron Star.
But - is there any upside to our Sun ever
being a Neutron Star, hypothetically, of course?
Well, perhaps - but we’d have to change
the mechanics of our solar system for that
to even be an option.
You see, because despite all of the cosmic
calamity that these little guys can cause
- it is still often theorized that neutron
stars across the universe MAY have planets
in orbit, albeit in a very precarious balance.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, so
to speak.
You see, because Neutron Stars have such an
overwhelming magnetic force - life on such
a planet could harness that power similar
to how we harness visible light from Sol.
Of course, for the most part, a Neutron Star
wouldn’t emit enough light energy - but
the overwhelming radiation from it’s magnetic
force could have completely shaped its course
and evolution of sentient light.
An entirely new concept of life could have
grown on this hypothetical planet that hangs
in the delicate balance of a Neutron Star’s
orbit.
Sentient life that fed on radiated cosmic
energy to become an entirely different life
form than that of humanity, using galactic
cosmic rays to sustain themselves - and perhaps
become an even more efficient extraterrestrial
life.
Heck, if this radiated alien species became
an advanced enough civilization - they could
even perhaps construct a Dyson sphere - a
hypothetical megastructure that completely
encompasses the star and efficiently harnesses
its energy.
There’s one thing for certain - whichever
way you spin it, a Neutron Star has more potential
energy that any known cosmic entity in our
galaxy.
If a civilization was lucky enough to grow
in the strange, delicate balance of having
a Neutron Star as a Sun - and survive its
cosmic calamity, and all the things that come
with having one of the most earth-shattering
entities in the known universe as a neighbour
- then there’s also a very good chance that
their civilization would be incredibly advanced,
thanks to the potential technological abundance
of a Neutron Star.
Hey, if that’s the case - maybe they’ll
be paying us a visit some time soon.
Ooo.
I hope they’re nice.
Well, there we have it folks - our short and
long answer to the question, What If Our Sun
Was A Neutron Star.
What did you guys think?
Let us know your thoughts down in the comment
section below, as well as any choice remarks
that you have on the matter.
Before we depart from today’s video though
- let’s first take a quick look at some
of your more resounding remarks from over
the past few days.
First up - NOCTAVE says --
Jack if you seen this can I just say that
I love this channel, and I want to go to space
one day.
-- Aw, well - cheers NOCTAVE - that means
a lot to us over here at LBQ.
And also, you can go to space on day - just
brush up on your maths, get really good at
spinning around in multitudes of G-Force - get
over any fear of heights you may have, and
then the star’s await.
I believe in you.
Go get em.
Well - on that note, unfortunately that’s
all we’ve got time for in today’s video
- cheers for sticking around all the way until
the end.
If you were a fan of this video, or just Life’s
Biggest Questions in particular - then please,
be a dear and hit that thumbs up button - as
well as that subscribe bell and I’ll be
seeing you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your disembodied
floating voice Jack Finch - you’ve been
watching Life’s Biggest Questions - and
until next time, you take it easy.
