[ad_1]
Neutron stars have mountains that are only a fraction of a millimeter high due to their extreme density, according to a new scientific model.
Stars are among the densest objects in the universe, weighing as much as the Sun while being only ten kilometers wide.
Neutron stars are formed when a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses, with every proton and electron in the object forming a neutron – a neutrally charged subatomic particle.
If the star is between one and three times the mass of our Sun, then it will turn into one of these dense stars; anything larger than that will continue to collapse until they eventually form black holes.
The gravitational forces on a neutron star are about a billion times greater than those on Earth, compressing every element on the surface to tiny dimensions, creating an almost perfect sphere.
However, on the surface of this sphere are minor imperfections, called “mountains”.
“Over the past two decades, there has been a lot of interest in understanding how big these mountains can be before the neutron star’s crust breaks and the mountain can no longer be supported,” Fabian Gittins, a doctoral student at the University of Southampton, who has built a model computing system to represent and study neutron stars, said in a statement.
The largest mountains that can be produced in this mathematical model were only a fraction of a millimeter high, a hundred times smaller than previously estimated.
Previous work suggests that neutron stars can deviate from their perfect spherical shape by a margin of a few parts in a million, suggesting that mountains as large as a few centimeters might be possible, but this new data shows that is not possible. because the crust would. be too close to breaking at each point.
“These results show just how remarkably spherical neutron stars really are. Additionally, they suggest that observing the gravitational waves of spinning neutron stars may be even more difficult than previously thought,” he said. Gittins said.
Understanding these slight distortions is vital for physicists who hope to gain a better understanding of our universe. Spinning neutron stars cause ripples in the fabric of space-time known as gravitational waves, from these slight imperfections.
These gravitational waves have not yet been observed, but future advances in scientific equipment more sensitive to the Ligo (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and Virgo observatories could prove surprising.
These observatories have already discovered astonishing phenomena, including a black hole swallowing a neutron star for the first time, and the violent fusion of two huge black holes in deep space.
[ad_2]
Source link