Endless Facts, One Snippet at a Time
Neutron Stars: The Universe’s Densest Objects
- Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of massive stars left behind after supernova explosions.
- They pack more mass than the Sun into a sphere only about 20 kilometers wide.
- A sugar-cube–sized piece of neutron star material would weigh about a billion tons on Earth.
- Their gravity is so strong it warps nearby space and time.
- Neutron stars are made almost entirely of neutrons packed tightly together.
- Some spin hundreds of times per second, emitting beams of radiation as pulsars.
- Magnetars are neutron stars with magnetic fields trillions of times stronger than Earth’s.
- Colliding neutron stars create both gravitational waves and heavy elements like gold.
- Their extreme physics makes them natural laboratories for testing fundamental science.
- Despite their tiny size, neutron stars shine as some of the most fascinating objects in the cosmos.