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Black widow pulsar is fattest collapsed star yet

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n2doc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-08-10 10:47 AM
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Black widow pulsar is fattest collapsed star yet
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827814.100-black-widow-pulsar-is-fattest-collapsed-star-yet.html

A CANNIBALISTIC collapsed star is growing so fat from the partner it is slowly devouring that it is likely to be the most massive neutron star yet measured. The observation suggests that neutron stars can grow much bigger than previously thought before collapsing to become a black hole.

The star in question is a "black widow" pulsar, a type of rotating neutron star that is highly magnetised. It rotates in tandem with a smaller partner, which its gravitational field slowly destroys.

Previously the most massive neutron star known was between 1.66 and 1.68 times as massive as the sun. Now Marten van Kerkwijk of the University of Toronto, Canada, and his colleagues estimate that the black widow pulsar B1957+20 (depicted right) is 2.4 solar masses (arxiv.org/abs/1009.5427).

This rules out the popular "Brown-Bethe" model, which says the maximum mass for a neutron star is about 1.5 solar masses before collapse into a black hole is inevitable, as well as other models.

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Generic Other Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-08-10 10:56 AM
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1. That looks like Sarh Palin
black widow indeed!
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phantom power Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-08-10 11:00 AM
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2. That seems like a pretty important result.
If it violates our current models by that much, somebody somewhere is learning something new about physics.
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Blue Owl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-08-10 11:20 AM
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3. looks like "The Reaper"
n/t
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Myrina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-08-10 11:34 AM
Response to Reply #3
4. Indeed
:scared:
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BadgerKid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Oct-09-10 10:44 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. Or Anubis from Stargate.
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