{"id":147,"date":"2009-11-04T20:18:35","date_gmt":"2009-11-04T20:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techfragments.com\/?p=147"},"modified":"2022-08-03T11:27:58","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T11:27:58","slug":"neutron-star-with-carbon-atmosphere-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/neutron-star-with-carbon-atmosphere-found\/","title":{"rendered":"Neutron Star with Carbon Atmosphere Found"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory<\/a> has uncovered evidence of an ultra-thin layer of carbon on the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, a discovery that solves a mystery about the object. It is the first time that the composition of an atmosphere of an isolated neutron star has been confirmed.<\/p>\n

“The compact star at the center of this famous supernova remnant has been an enigma since its discovery. Now we finally understand that it can be produced by a hot neutron star with a carbon atmosphere,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

said Wynn Ho, lead author of a paper in the latest issue of Nature outlining the find.<\/p>\n

\"Chandra

Chandra X-ray image of Cassiopeia A (Cas A). Image credit: NASA\/CXC\/SAO<\/p><\/div>\n

A Chandra image of Cas A in 1999 showed a previously undetected point-like source of X-rays at the center. This object was presumed to be a neutron star, the typical remnant of an exploded star, but researchers were unable to understand its properties since the object showed no X-ray or radio pulsations or signs of radio pulsar activity.<\/p>\n

The carbon atmosphere explains the lack of X-ray pulsations because, like a lightbulb that shines consistently in all directions, this neutron star would be unlikely to display any changes<\/a> in its intensity as it rotates.<\/p>\n

Unlike most astronomical objects, neutron stars are small enough to understand on a human scale. For example, neutron stars typically have a diameter of about 14 miles, only slightly longer than a half-marathon. The atmosphere of a neutron star is on an even smaller scale.<\/p>\n

The researchers calculate that the carbon atmosphere is only about 4 inches thick because it has been compressed by a surface gravity that is 100 billion times stronger than on Earth.<\/p>\n

Also, the estimated age of the neutron star in Cas A is only several hundred years, making it about ten times younger than other neutron stars with detected surface emission. Therefore, the Cas A neutron star gives a unique window into the early life of a cooling neutron star.<\/p>\n

And the carbon?<\/p>\n

The researchers say it comes from a combination of material that has fallen back after the supernova, and nuclear reactions on the hot surface of the neutron star which convert hydrogen and helium into carbon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has uncovered evidence of an ultra-thin layer of carbon on the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, a discovery that solves a mystery about the object. It is the first time that the composition of an atmosphere of an isolated neutron star has been confirmed. “The compact star at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[15],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1062,"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions\/1062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techfragments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}