This is a neutron star.
So what exactly is a neutron star?
Will our sun ever become one?
How dangerous is a neutron star?
And will we ever be able to visit one?
A neutron star is the collapsed core of a star
that's at least 4 times the mass of our own sun.
Its too large to create a white dwarf
but too small to create a black hole.
To put things into perspective: A white dwarf
is slightly larger than our own planet.
While a neutron star is similar in size
to a large city.
But don't let it's small size fool you.
A neutron star's density is second
to that of a black hole.
Even though they average at about 10 kilometers
in radius, they still retain
1.4 solar masses. If you were somehow
able to take a teaspoon sized
sample of a neutron star that sample would
weigh anywhere between 1 to 6 billion tons.
 
In fact, it's gravity is so strong
that the core fuses protons and electrons together.
The core is comprised entirely of neutrons.
Hence the name "Neutron Star".
The star's magnetic field is 10s
of millions times stronger than on Earth.
Strong enough to rip a person down to their atoms.
That, and a surface temperature of about 1 million degrees
a neutron star is no joke.
Thankfully, the closest known neutron star is Calvera.
Approximately 617 light years away.
Even if you were able to hitch a ride on the fastest
spacecraft built today
it would still take you about 11 million years
to reach Calvera.
Jocelyn Bell and Anthony Hewish
first observed pulsars in 1967.
This suggested neutron stars existed.
As the star's core collapses
it increases it's rotation up to several hundred times per second
Some neutron stars emit beams of
electromagnetic radiation and are detectable as pulsars.
Pulsars' radiation is theorized to
emit from regions near their magnetic poles.
If the poles do not coincide with the rotational
axis, the emissions will sweep the sky.
If the observer is somewhere in the path of the beam
it will appear as pulses of radiation.
Coming from a fixed point in space.
This is called the "Lighthouse Effect".
[Audio book of Astrophysics]
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