The supernova remnant 3C 58 contains a spinning neutron star at its center, known as PSR J0205+6449. Astronomers have studied this neutron star and others like it to investigate the nature of matter in these very dense objects. A new study, conducted using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s
In this image of 3C 58, low-energy X-rays are colored red, medium-energy X-rays are colored green, and the high-energy band of X-rays is colored blue. The X-ray data has been combined with an optical image in yellow from the Digitized Sky Survey. The Chandra data shows that the rapidly rotating neutron star (also known as a ‘pulsar’) is surrounded at its center by a torus of X-rays and a beam extending several light years. The optical data shows stars in the field.
The team in this new study analyzed previously released data from neutron stars to determine the so-called equation of state. This refers to the basic properties of the neutron stars, including the pressures and temperatures in different parts of their interiors.
The authors used machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence, to compare the data with various equations of state. Their results imply that a significant portion of the equations of state – which do not include the ability for rapid cooling at higher masses – can be excluded.
In the study, the researchers used some neutron stars that were in supernova remnants, including 3C 58. Because astronomers have age estimates for the supernova remnants, they also have the ages of the neutron stars that formed during the explosions that created both remnants. and the neutron stars. The astronomers found that the neutron star in 3C 58 and two others were much cooler than the rest of the neutron stars in the study.
The team thinks part of the explanation for the rapid cooling is that these neutron stars are more massive than most other stars. Because more massive neutron stars contain more particles, special processes can be initiated that cause neutron stars to cool faster.
One possibility for what lies inside these neutron stars is some kind of radioactive decay near their centers where neutrinos (low-mass particles that travel easily through matter) carry away much of the energy and heat, causing a rapid cooling.
Another possibility is that species of exotic matter are found in the centers of these faster-cooling neutron stars.
The Nature Astronomy article describing these results is available here. The authors of the article are Alessio Marino (Institute of Space Sciences (ICE) in Barcelona, Spain), Clara Dehman (ICE), Konstantinos Kovlakas (ICE), Nanda Rea (ICE), JA Pons (University of Alicante in Spain) , and Daniele Viganò (ICE).
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center monitors science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
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This is an image of the remains of an exploded star called 3C 58, shown in X-ray and optical light. At the center of the remnant is a rapidly spinning neutron star called a pulsar, which presents itself as a bright white object that is slightly elongated in shape.
Loops and swirls of material, in shades of blue and purple, extend from the neutron star in many directions, resembling the shape of an octopus and its arms.
Surrounding the octopus-like structure is a cloud of material in red hues that is wider horizontally than vertically. A ribbon of purple material extends to the left edge of the red cloud and curls up at the end. Another purple ribbon extends to the right edge of the red cloud, although it is less defined than the ribbon on the other side. Stars of many shapes and sizes are scattered throughout the image.
Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
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Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.
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