Using the Green Bank Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most massive neutron star (J0740 + 6620) known to science. It is located at a distance of about 4.6 thousand light years from Earth and, with a diameter of about 30 kilometers, has a mass of 2.17 solar mass.
Neutron stars fascinate no less than perplex. These city-sized objects are inherently giant atomic nuclei. They are so massive that matter in their bowels acquires strange properties. Here on Earth, just one teaspoon of neutron star matter would weigh about 100 million tons, or about the same as the entire population of our planet. And although astronomers and physicists have been studying these objects for several decades, many questions about them remain open, the most important of which is: what is the turning point at which gravity “conquers” matter and forms a black hole?
-The authors of the study say
Neutron stars are the compressed remnants of massive stars that erupted in supernovae. They are the most dense normal objects in the known Universe. Technically, black holes are denser, but you can’t classify them as normal.
Astronomers succeeded in detecting the most massive neutron star, designated J0740 + 6620, during the observation of a binary system consisting of a millisecond pulsar and a white dwarf. Pulsars are a special case of these exotic dense objects and are distinguished by the fact that the rays emitted from their magnetized poles reach our telescopes.
Since pulsars rotate at phenomenal speeds and intervals, we can use them as the cosmic equivalent of an atomic clock. Such accurate timing helps us study the nature of space-time, measure the masses of objects and test Albert Einstein’s General Relativity.
In this case, the successful orientation of the binary system with respect to the Earth and the cosmic accuracy of pulsars allowed astronomers to fairly accurately calculate the mass of both components of the system. The result was achieved thanks to the “Shapiro effect”, in which at the moment the neutron star is behind the white dwarf, the signal from it arrives with a delay of about 10 ppm.
In fact, the gravity of the white dwarf slightly bends the space surrounding it, so the impulse travels a little more distance. As a result, the magnitude of the delay revealed its mass, and then the mass of the neutron star.
The location of this binary system made it an excellent space laboratory. It is believed that neutron stars have a “tipping point” in which their internal densities become so extreme that gravity suppresses the ability of neutrons to resist further collapse. Therefore, each new “most massive” neutron star brings us closer to the definition of this point and helps to understand the physics of such incredibly densely packed matter.
The most massive neutron star, known to science, discovered
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