Video: Chandra Captures the First Direct Evidence of Superfluids at the Heart of Neutron Stars

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Chandra's View of Cassiopeia A (Cas A) At the heart of this supernova remnant located in our Galaxy about 11,000 light years away, a neutron star is showing signs of a superfluid forming at its core, the first direct evidence of a superfluid forming in a neutron star. X-ray: NASA/CXC/xx; Optical: NASA/STScI; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

The cores of neutron stars are the densest observable known matter in the universe, so dense that a single teaspoon of neutron star core would weigh some six billion tons. That density makes them fascinating to those seeking to probe the properties of matter, and NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory has made an interesting discovery doing exactly that, finding the first direct evidence that matter there can take on a superfluid state.

Superfluids are strange states of matter, typically forming at very low and very high temperatures, exhibiting gonzo properties like a seemingly gravity-defying tendency to climb up the walls of containers and friction-free superconductivity. That is, they are perfect conductors that don’t lose energy during transmission. And the fact that they appear to exist at the center of neutron stars tells scientists a lot about nuclear interactions in high-density matter and the life-cycles of neutron stars.

The pressure within neutron stars is so intense that in the stars’ cores, charged particles merge, resulting in a star mostly consisting of neutrons (hence the name). This pressure also gives off a great deal of heat. But in looking at supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, about 11,000 light years away, Chandra noticed an ultra-dense neutron star that was bleeding temperature at a rate of about four percent per decade, a rapid and anomalous decline.

Source: www.popsci.com...

Absolutely amazing. Look at that. AND make sure you check out the video at the main source site.

Every week it gets more and more hot with all the info flying in from all of our little probes... )

This little thing just working away out there. A pioneer for sure.
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I guess there are no CHANDRA X-Ray Observatory fans on ATS today.

Pretty cool stuff. Not to be over looked. I believe an inportant piece of the big picture.

I'm not sure I understand a superfluid state of matter, one might think atomic mass at extreme density would be supersolid, but my browser doesn't recognize supersolid as a word, but allows superfluid, so walla, it's a superfluid state of matter.

Joking aside, to me this seems to be a micro example of the state of things leading up to the Big Bang in a way. Still hard to grasp the vast empty space between particles than make up mass, as we know it, leaves plenty of room to condense.

There's so many concepts of particle mass I don't understand that I can't begin to even know what I don't know except that their numbers are mind boggling.

Let me throw out a layman thought. If the core of a neutron star is so dense and hot, I assume rotating at extreme speed, (from what I gather of collapsing dense stars can rotate millions of revolutions per second), then I liken this to the early state of matter right after the Big Bang where the particles of atoms could not bind. Would this be happening at this core, that the conditions are too hot for atoms to form but some (dark matter) hold them in place stronger than gravity, that holds them from dispersing away to a cooler state where atoms can bind?

One can only imagine what the density might be of a black hole.

reply to post by Illustronic


It's not that the neutron star is too hot (they coold down with time), it's that the pressure inside is so great that electrons can't stay apart from protons. They are forced into protons, producing neutrons.

Greater density doesn't mean liquid should turn into solid. Mercury is a lot denser than say aluminium, but it's liquid at room temperature. Solid state requires strong bonds between atoms, and in a neutron star there are no atoms.

By the way, black holes are infinitely dense (if you mean the singularity, not the volume of space surrounded by the event horizon).

Thanks for the brief synopsis, I have no formal education on the matter, just a pedestrian interest.

So let me try to understand something. The extreme pressure is caused by the fast rotation, or is the fast rotation the byproduct of the extreme pressure since fuel has expired for the fusion process to continue, and gravity finally wins the compression battle. I'm sure I sound a bit mixed up.

But I will never grasp ahold of infinite for any description of anything because comparisons become meaningless.

I'm just trying to appreciate some of our quest to explain 'The Theory of Everything'.

Originally posted by Illustronic
Thanks for the brief synopsis, I have no formal education on the matter, just a pedestrian interest.

So let me try to understand something. The extreme pressure is caused by the fast rotation, or is the fast rotation the byproduct of the extreme pressure since fuel has expired for the fusion process to continue, and gravity finally wins the compression battle. I'm sure I sound a bit mixed up.

But I will never grasp ahold of infinite for any description of anything because comparisons become meaningless.

I'm just trying to appreciate some of our quest to explain 'The Theory of Everything'.

The extreme pressure is caused by gravity. Fast rotation is caused by the conservation of angular momentum (like when a spinning ice skater pulls his/her arms and legs in and starts spinning faster).