Most Massive Neutron Star Yet Discovered

kennyc · 10-27-2010, 02:58 PM

ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2010) — Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have discovered the most massive neutron star yet found, a discovery with strong and wide-ranging impacts across several fields of physics and astrophysics.
...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1027133142.htm

kennyc · 10-27-2010, 04:21 PM

So big it musta scared everyone off....

dsvick · 10-27-2010, 04:39 PM

Very cool. I enjoy reading these sorts of things so I really appreciate the links you're posting Kenny. I'm just not as familiar with the science of it as I used to be so I cant comment on them other to say things like "Neat", "Very Cool", or "I find it incredible that we can look at something 3000 light years away and determine how massive it is!"

kennyc · 10-27-2010, 04:44 PM

I'm no expert either, but am an interested amateur.

I noticed the 3000 as well....a century BCE!

HarryT · 10-27-2010, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsvick

I find it incredible that we can look at something 3000 light years away and determine how massive it is!

You'll note from the article that this star had a white dwarf companion. Any time two objects are orbiting each other, measuring the orbital period gives you an instant knowledge of the total mass of the system by a trivial application of Newton's law of gravity. All white dwarf stars have pretty much the same mass, so by subtracting that from the total you get the mass of the neutron star. Easy peasy maths

.

ardeegee · 10-27-2010, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

So big it musta scared everyone off....

Yeah, never very many responses in general "science news" threads, and they scroll away quickly. Which is why I thought this "catch all" thread would work better:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=103875

Sparrow · 10-27-2010, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsvick

Very cool. I enjoy reading these sorts of things so I really appreciate the links you're posting Kenny.

mind boggling stuff!

kennyc · 10-27-2010, 04:51 PM

I think that gets too messy and long ... It's okay if they scroll off.

subscribed to it in any case though.

Krystian Galaj · 10-27-2010, 05:31 PM

I always like it when some scientific theories are disproved

It helps to pinpoint that "everything else" that must be the truth.

rebarnmom · 10-27-2010, 06:20 PM

Thanks Kenny!
Very interesting, but still way over my head (in more than one way

)!
The article sounds like an episode of Star Trek: TNG!

kennyc · 10-27-2010, 06:30 PM

Oh that was BAAAAAD redbarnmom!!

dsvick · 10-28-2010, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

You'll note from the article that this star had a white dwarf companion. Any time two objects are orbiting each other, measuring the orbital period gives you an instant knowledge of the total mass of the system by a trivial application of Newton's law of gravity. All white dwarf stars have pretty much the same mass, so by subtracting that from the total you get the mass of the neutron star. Easy peasy maths

.

But that just furthers my point, it is 3000 light years away, that's 17,635,876,119,550,824 miles!! And we know there is a white dwarf with it!!

That's mind blowing!!

That's be like me sitting in my house in Ohio with a straw, a pair of binoculars and a slide rule and telling you what SneakySnake had for breakfast in Oz. I understand how it is done, but it is still absolutely amazing!!!

CyGuy · 10-28-2010, 09:54 AM

A couple of intersting facts about neutron stars (from Wikipedia):

"The neutron star's density varies from below 1×109 kg/m3 in the crust increasing with depth to above 6×1017 or 8×1017 kg/m3 deeper inside. This density is approximately equivalent to the mass of the entire human population compressed to the size of a sugar cube."

"A neutron star is so dense that one teaspoon (5 milliliters) of its material would have a mass over 5.5×1012 kg, about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza."

"The resulting force of gravity is so strong that if an object were to fall from a height of one meter it would only take one microsecond to hit the surface of the neutron star, and would do so at around 2000 kilometers per second, or 7.2 million kilometers per hour."

I just love that last fact. Drop something from about 3 feet and it would accelerate to over 4.5 million miles per hour, in 3 feet!!!

kennyc · 10-28-2010, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyGuy

A couple of intersting facts about neutron stars (from Wikipedia):

"The neutron star's density varies from below 1×109 kg/m3 in the crust increasing with depth to above 6×1017 or 8×1017 kg/m3 deeper inside. This density is approximately equivalent to the mass of the entire human population compressed to the size of a sugar cube."

"A neutron star is so dense that one teaspoon (5 milliliters) of its material would have a mass over 5.5×1012 kg, about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza."

"The resulting force of gravity is so strong that if an object were to fall from a height of one meter it would only take one microsecond to hit the surface of the neutron star, and would do so at around 2000 kilometers per second, or 7.2 million kilometers per hour."

I just love that last fact. Drop something from about 3 feet and it would accelerate to over 4.5 million miles per hour, in 3 feet!!!

Totally gobsmacking mind-blowing!

10-27-2010, 02:58 PM	#1
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Most Massive Neutron Star Yet Discovered ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2010) — Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have discovered the most massive neutron star yet found, a discovery with strong and wide-ranging impacts across several fields of physics and astrophysics. ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1027133142.htm

10-27-2010, 04:51 PM	#8
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	I think that gets too messy and long ... It's okay if they scroll off. subscribed to it in any case though. Last edited by kennyc; 10-27-2010 at 04:58 PM.

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10-27-2010, 04:21 PM	#2
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	So big it musta scared everyone off....

10-27-2010, 04:39 PM	#3
dsvick Wizard Posts: 2,737 Karma: 635747 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Northeast Ohio, USA Device: PRS-900	Very cool. I enjoy reading these sorts of things so I really appreciate the links you're posting Kenny. I'm just not as familiar with the science of it as I used to be so I cant comment on them other to say things like "Neat", "Very Cool", or "I find it incredible that we can look at something 3000 light years away and determine how massive it is!"

10-27-2010, 04:44 PM	#4
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	I'm no expert either, but am an interested amateur. I noticed the 3000 as well....a century BCE!

10-27-2010, 05:31 PM	#9
Krystian Galaj Guru Posts: 820 Karma: 11012 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Warsaw, Poland Device: Bookeen Cybook	I always like it when some scientific theories are disproved It helps to pinpoint that "everything else" that must be the truth.

10-27-2010, 06:20 PM	#10
rebarnmom Wizard Posts: 1,289 Karma: 4525055 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: rural Illinois, USA Device: Sony PRS-700 (traded in), Sony PRS-650	Thanks Kenny! Very interesting, but still way over my head (in more than one way )! The article sounds like an episode of Star Trek: TNG!

10-27-2010, 06:30 PM	#11
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Oh that was BAAAAAD redbarnmom!!

10-28-2010, 09:54 AM	#13
CyGuy Avid Reader Posts: 769 Karma: 7777778 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: PocketBook 902, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, ASUS TF700, and Cybook Gen III	A couple of intersting facts about neutron stars (from Wikipedia): "The neutron star's density varies from below 1×109 kg/m3 in the crust increasing with depth to above 6×1017 or 8×1017 kg/m3 deeper inside. This density is approximately equivalent to the mass of the entire human population compressed to the size of a sugar cube." "A neutron star is so dense that one teaspoon (5 milliliters) of its material would have a mass over 5.5×1012 kg, about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza." "The resulting force of gravity is so strong that if an object were to fall from a height of one meter it would only take one microsecond to hit the surface of the neutron star, and would do so at around 2000 kilometers per second, or 7.2 million kilometers per hour." I just love that last fact. Drop something from about 3 feet and it would accelerate to over 4.5 million miles per hour, in 3 feet!!!

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