Neutron Stars
Mickiel Tietsort
What is a Neutron Star?
A neutron star is a star that has a mass 1.4 times the amount of the sun, however is smaller than most other stars, compared to the size of a large city. The stars have a 12.5 mile diameter. The star is so heavy that a piece the size of a sugar cube would weigh over a hundred million tons when on Earth.
How do they form?
These appear from exploded stars that are larger than it. Pieces of stars that exploded launch out and crash into each other to form a new star. The newly made star has a lot of protons and electrons that crash together to make a huge charge of neutrons- hence the name. With the surplus amount of neutrons the star has a strong gravitational pull.
What are Pulsars how are they related to Neutron Stars?
A Pulsar is a Neutron star that rotates in space. The Neutron Star pulses which gives off the name Pulsar. Most people nickname them the 'lighthouses of the universe'. A Pulsar pulses off magnetic radiation that you can only feel if you're in the path of the rays. Pulsars were discovered in 1967 by Jocelyn Bell Bernell and Antony Lewis. The transmissions the star was giving off fooled astronauts into thinking there was life in space.