The much heavier a neutron star is, the more most likely it is to eventually collapse to become something even denser: a black hole.An artists impression of the system presuming that the enormous buddy star is a black hole. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Piotto (Università degli Studi di Padova); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)A Cosmic Dance in NGC 1851It was when looking deep in the star cluster NGC 1851 that we spotted what appears to be a pair of stars offering a new view into the extremes of matter in the universe. The most enormous neutron stars weigh in at around 2 solar masses, so if this were a double neutron star system (systems that are popular and studied) then it would have to consist of two of the heaviest neutron stars ever found.To reveal the nature of the buddy, we would need to understand how the mass in the system was distributed in between the stars. If two neutron stars take place to be tossed too close together, their dance will come to a cataclysmic end.The black hole created by their accident, which can be much lighter than those produced from collapsing stars, is then complimentary to roam the cluster up until it finds another set of dancers in the waltz and, rather rudely, insert itself– kicking out the lighter partner in the procedure. Work is already ongoing to conclusively determine the true nature of the companion and expose whether we have actually found the lightest black hole or the most massive neutron star– or maybe neither.At the limit between neutron stars and black holes there is always the possibility that some new, as yet unidentified, astrophysical object may exist.Much speculation will be sure to follow this discovery, however what is already clear is that this system holds enormous pledge when it comes to understanding what truly happens to matter in the most severe environments in the universe.Written by: Ewan D. Barr– Project researcher for the Transients and Pulsars with MeerKAT (TRAPUM) cooperation, Max Planck Institute for Radio AstronomyArunima Dutta– PhD Candidate at the Research Department Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy, Max Planck Institute for Radio AstronomyBenjamin Stappers– Professor of Astrophysics, University of ManchesterAdapted from a post originally released in The Conversation.
The heavier a neutron star is, the more most likely it is to ultimately collapse to end up being something even denser: a black hole.An artists impression of the system assuming that the huge companion star is a black hole. The most massive neutron stars weigh in at around two solar masses, so if this were a double neutron star system (systems that are well-known and studied) then it would have to include 2 of the heaviest neutron stars ever found.To reveal the nature of the companion, we would require to understand how the mass in the system was dispersed in between the stars. Work is already continuous to conclusively determine the true nature of the buddy and reveal whether we have actually found the lightest black hole or the most huge neutron star– or perhaps neither.At the limit between neutron stars and black holes there is always the possibility that some new, as yet unidentified, astrophysical object might exist.Much speculation will be sure to follow this discovery, however what is already clear is that this system holds enormous promise when it comes to comprehending what really occurs to matter in the most severe environments in the universe.Written by: Ewan D. Barr– Project scientist for the Transients and Pulsars with MeerKAT (TRAPUM) partnership, Max Planck Institute for Radio AstronomyArunima Dutta– PhD Candidate at the Research Department Fundamental Physics in Radio Astronomy, Max Planck Institute for Radio AstronomyBenjamin Stappers– Professor of Astrophysics, University of ManchesterAdapted from a post originally released in The Conversation.