Either a massive neutron star or low-mass black hole found
- January 21, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Either a massive neutron star or low-mass black hole found
Subject: S&T
Section: Space tech
In the news:
- Researchers who used a telescope in South Africa reported the discovery of an object in the Milky Way that could either be the most massive — mass between 2.09 and 2.71 solar masses — neutron star ever observed, or the least massive black hole.
- There is a substantial gap between the masses of the heaviest measured neutron star and the lightest measured black hole — the most massive neutron stars generally range between 2.2 to 2.5 solar masses, while black holes of less than 5 solar masses are rare.
Neutron star:
- A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star, which had a total mass of between 10 and 25 solar masses (M☉), possibly more if the star was especially metal-rich.
- Except for black holes,neutron stars are the smallest and densest known class of stellar objects.
- Neutron stars have a radius on the order of 10 kilometres (6 mi) and a mass of about 1.4 M☉.
- They result from the supernova explosion of a massive star, combined with gravitational collapse, that compresses the core past white dwarf star density to that of atomic nuclei.
- Once formed, neutron stars no longer actively generate heat and cool over time; however, they may still evolve further through collision or accretion.
Black hole:
- A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light and other electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it.
- The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to form a black hole.
- The boundary of no escape is called the event horizon.
- A black hole has a great effect on the fate and circumstances of an object crossing it, but it has no locally detectable features according to general relativity.
- In many ways, a black hole acts like an ideal black body, as it reflects no light.
- Most black holes form from the remnants of a large star that dies in a supernova explosion. (Smaller stars become dense neutron stars, which are not massive enough to trap light.)
Source: TH