- Attachments : Neutron star and Crab Nebula
- Because all Ordinary Matter is made of atoms, Atoms are clouds of electrons orbiting around a tiny nucleus composed of protons and neutrons. It is the electromagnetic force that keeps them separated and that force is what you feel.
- The diameter of the nucleus is 1/100,000th the size of the electron cloud. It is the cloud that defines the size of the atom. The electron itself is 1/1860th the size of a single proton. An atom is a small nucleus and an even smaller electron and all the rest is empty space.
- When you sit down in your chair it is that whirling electron cloud traveling at a fraction of the speed of light that is holding you up. The Ordinary Matter that is in the chair is invisibly small. If it were squeezed down to be one kernel of matter it would be the size of a bunch of atomic nuclei. The kernel would still weigh the same as chair. The mass would be the same, but, that would be nearly nothing and the rest would be space.
- Now put this scenario on the scale of a massive star. A star of 10 Solar Mass would be squeezed down to a Neutron Star about 12 miles in diameter. The gravity of the massive star that runs out of nuclear fuel has no opposing force. The electromagnetic force that holds the electrons in orbit collapses into a single, giant atomic nucleus composed of neutrons. The mass is still the same but it has been squeezed into a ball 12 miles in diameter. The rest of the massive star was empty space.
- Being only 12 miles in diameter you would be tempted to get close to the Neutron Star. That would be a mistake. The magnetic fields around the star are extremely strong. All the atoms in your body would be distorted to cigar-shaped. A lethal situation. It is not only the intense gravity and the intense magnetic field that you have to avoid. The rotating magnetic field also produces an electric field with potential of a quadrillion volts. There would be a blizzard of high-energy charged particles like lightning bolts only 30,000,000 times stronger.
- Let’s back away from this Neutron Star.
- We still get the radiation of X-rays and Gamma Rays. The high-energy particles produce beams of energy emitting everything in the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves through Gamma Rays. If the beam happens to be pointing at us we detect a pulse of this radiation. If the rotation of the beam is off center the beam will flash by us like a lighthouse. We detect a pulse every complete rotation. Some high school students discovered one of these Pulsars in January that was rotating 324 times per second. ( 19,000 rpm). ( See Review # 1396 for details.)
- Astronomers have discovered over 1,000 of these Pulsars. The most famous Pulsar is at the center of the Crab Nebula, in the attached picture. The Crab pulses cover the entire spectrum of wavelengths. Only 24 of these Pulsars are detected in X-rays. And, only 6 of these are detected in Gamma Rays.
- Some of the Pulsars produce extreme magnetic fields. Some magnetic forces are so strong they cause “Star quakes” on the surface of the Neutron Star. When the surface cracks powerful bursts of X-rays are produced. If the star quake is strong enough these flashes can be in Gamma Rays.
- Sometimes a Neutron Star is close in orbit to a companion star in a binary system. The intense gravity of the Neutron Star can pull gas and material from the companion star. This in falling material spirals into the Neutron Star creating an accretion disk that accelerates around the star, Enormous energies are created in the acceleration of this material and it radiates powerful X-rays.
- When the rotating material enters the rotational poles it gets ejected in a concentrated beam of material that is hurled into interstellar space. When this beam strikes material in the interstellar medium it generates more X-ray radiation. Between Accretion-powered Pulsars and Rotation-powered Pulsars the accretion powered is more powerful as long as an abundant flow of gas is coming from the companion star.
- How do you know the accretion-powered Pulsar is a Neutron Star and not a Blackhole?
- Blackholes do not have a normal solid surface or a normal rotating magnetic field. The X-rays from Blackholes flicker. Those from a Neutron Star produce a steady rate of X-ray pulses.
- To learn more about Neutron Stars see:
----------- Review #1334 “ Unusual Light from the Crab Nebula?”
------------ Review #1261 “ What is Making the Crab Nebula So Active?”
------------ Reviews #1100, #862, # 720
- The Crab Nebula is in the Constellation Taurus the Bull. The end of the southern horn of the bull is the star, Zeta. Next to Zeta is the Crab Nebula.
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707-536-3272, Friday, February 3, 2012
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