Groups of astrophysicists were able to see the surface of a neutron star, which is far from our planet. Interestingly, the surface maps of this amazing object turned out to be different.
A neutron star is one of the outcomes of star development. This object consists of a core - neutrons, which is covered with a small crust of matter from electrons and heavy nuclei of atoms. The mass of such objects is equal to the solar, but the diameter is only a few tens of kilometers. The density of the substance of these celestial bodies exceeds that of the atomic nucleus. Heavy neutron objects emit very powerful radiation, being pulsars.
One of these pulsars turned out to be the object of study by a group of astronomers. They published the results of their work in articles in the scientific publication The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
A powerful pulsar emitting x-rays - J0030 + 0451 - was chosen for the study. It is located in the constellation Pisces at a distance of 1.1 thousand. light years from our planet. A team of scientists working at the University of Amsterdam explored a star using a NICER device aboard an international space station.
As a result of research, it was found that the neutron object has a diameter of 26 km. Despite this, its mass exceeds the solar by 1.3 - 1.4 times. Interestingly, the diameter of the Sun has a length of 1.3 million km. The pulsar rotates around its axis in 0.0049 seconds.
These are impressive numbers for the average earth observer and are quite expected for scientists. But after detailed research, astronomers faced a number of surprises.
Modern ideas suggest that radiation emanates from active points located at the magnetic poles of a pulsating star. When one of the poles “looks” towards the Earth, we can see inconstant pulsating flashes. Just pulsar J0030 is directed by its north pole towards the Earth, and astronomers were ready to see an unusually beautiful phenomenon.
The excellent optical properties of NICER and supercomputer calculations made it possible to determine from which sections of the pulsar the x-rays emanate. It turned out that all the hot spots are in the southern hemisphere. It is not completely visible as a result of a change in space-time due to the huge mass of the star.
Among astronomers, a debate broke out about how many hot spots there are on the pulsar under study. A team of Dutch astronomers indicates that there are two such points. American scientists saw three points in the southern hemisphere. Because of this, two different “maps” of the surface of a massive and active neutron star were obtained.
The obtained images of a massive neutron star presented astronomers with intractable surprises. Some of them differ from the generally accepted theory of star evolution. It is possible that the new research results on massive space objects will answer the question of how black holes form in space.