scientists DTU Area discovered a neutron star rotating around its axis at an incredibly high speed (716 times per second). This discovery was made with the help of an X-ray telescope NASA NICEEquipped with star tracking technology DTU Area. The neutron star is part of the X-ray binary star system 4U 1820-30 in the constellation Sagittarius.
Senior researcher Dr. “We studied the explosions in this system and subsequently discovered oscillations that suggested that the neutron star was rotating around its central axis at an astonishing speed of 716 cycles per second,” said Gaurav K. Jaisawala of DTU Space. If future observations confirm this, neutron star 4U 1820-30 will be one of the fastest rotating objects ever observed in the universe.
The neutron star was observed using NASA’s NICER X-ray telescope, equipped with DTU Space’s star tracking technology and mounted outside the ISS. The star tracker’s camera system allows the X-ray device to aim steadily and precisely at neutron stars found in the Milky Way.
A neutron star is formed from the remnants of a massive star that exploded in a supernova. Thousands of such stars have been discovered, and they are extraordinary stars in many respects. These are the densest objects that can be observed in space. A neutron star is only 12 km in diameter, but its mass is 1.4 times the mass of the Sun.
It is located 26,000 light years from Earth. For comparison, the distance to Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth, is about 4.3 light-years. This means that light from Proxima Centauri takes 4.3 years to reach Earth, while light from a neutron star takes 26,000 years to reach NICER.
The neutron star under consideration is part of the X-ray binary star system. Another feature of the 4U 1820-30 system is that its companion star is a white dwarf about the same size as Earth. It is known to orbit a neutron star every 11 minutes, making it the system with the shortest known orbital period.
Due to its strong gravity, a neutron star ejects material from its companion star. A powerful thermonuclear explosion occurs in the neutron star when enough material accumulates on its surface. “During these explosions, the neutron star becomes 100,000 times brighter than the Sun and releases large amounts of energy,” explains Jerome Chenevez, associate professor at DTU Space University, who participated in the research.
Researchers detected 15 thermonuclear X-ray bursts from 4U 1820-30 through NICER observations between 2017 and 2021. One of these explosions showed thermonuclear explosion oscillations occurring at a frequency of 716 Hz. These fluctuations in bursts correspond to the rotation frequency of the neutron star; This data means that this neutron star rotates on its axis at a record high speed of 716 times per second.
Source: Port Altele
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