Extreme Universe: The Most Massive Neutron Star October 27, 2010
Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, Extreme Universe, General Relativity, Neutron Stars.Tags: most massive neutron star, neutron star, PSR J1614-2230
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Using the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope , astronomers have discovered the most massive neutron star ever, this discovery will offer profound insight on the limits of neutron stars and the nature of matter under such extreme conditions.
“This neutron star is twice as massive as our Sun. This is surprising, and that much mass means that several theoretical models for the internal composition of neutron stars now are ruled out,” said Paul Demorest, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). “This mass measurement also has implications for our understanding of all matter at extremely high densities and many details of nuclear physics,” he added.
The neutron star, called PSR J1614-2230 contains twice the mass of the Sun but compressed down into pulsar that is smaller than 20 kilometer It is estimated cubic inch of material from the star could weigh more than 10 billion tons. I have two videos below with more details for you.
The first is about the Discovery
The second is about the Instruments
