Our ability to grasp the complexities of non-Earthly settings is limited. Astronomers have to deal with this problem all the time. Sometimes it’s only a matter of finding out how well-understood physics relates to severe situations and then comparing the output of those equations to the actual data. Neutron stars, on the other hand, are a remarkable exception to this rule, as the necessary equations become fully intractable and observations do not reveal much information.
What comes after neutrons?
The ionised atoms at the centre of a big star are the starting point for the stuff that eventually becomes neutron stars. When the star’s fusion processes run out of energy, the matter compresses, subjecting itself to ever-increasing pressure. As a result of the crushing force, there is no longer a boundary between protons and neutrons. As a result, many protons in the area lose their electrons and decay into neutrons.
Finally, a counterweight to the crushing force of gravity may be found. The collapse of a black hole is prevented by quantum physics, which prohibits neutrons from occupying the same energy state in close proximity. The barriers between neutrons can start to break down, leading to strange combinations of their component quarks between a blob of neutrons and a black hole.
When quarks are combined into protons and neutrons, they are bound together by the Strong Force, which bonds those protons and neutrons into atoms in the process. Due to its computing complexity, it is difficult to do strong force calculations. They can’t be used in a neutron star since they don’t have the necessary energy and density.
However, this does not mean that we are unable to go forward. At relevant energies, we can compute estimates of the strong force. However, despite the fact that there are still many unknowns, we may employ a variety of empirical facts to narrow the range of possibilities.
To see a neutron star, one must know how.
More than a Sun’s worth of mass may be packed into a neutron star that’s just around 20 kilometres wide, making them very compact. There are a few hundred light-years between the nearest one we know of and the rest. So, it would appear that picturing these objects isn’t conceivable at all?
The answer is no. The presence of another object, such as a neutron star, is common in the systems of many neutron stars. We can learn a lot about the mass of a neutron star by observing how these two objects impact one other’s orbits. The International Space Station is also home to a dedicated neutron star observatory. For NICER (the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer), photos of rotating neutron stars are captured with a collection of X-ray telescopes. Tracking specific hot areas on the star’s surface has been made possible by this.
NICER’s ability to detect the warping of space-time around big neutron stars and utilise it to derive a reasonably accurate estimate of its size is more crucial for this effort. If the mass of the neutron star is known, it is feasible to calculate its density and compare it to the density you would anticipate from a star made entirely of neutrons.
When attempting to determine the chemical makeup of neutron stars, however, we are not constrained to using solely photons. Gravitational waves have recently been used to detect the mergers of neutron stars, and the precise specifics of this signal rely on the parameters of these stars. As a result, these mergers may be used to rule out some possible neutron star models.