Scientists have developed new models to estimate the size of neutron stars.

The models, powered by gravitational wave data, helped astrophysicists establish new more precise upper limits to neutron star size estimates.

Neutron stars are some of the densest objects in the universe, with a mass greater than our sun squeezed into an area roughly the size of a major city.

But are they more like the size of a sprawling Los Angeles, or the more compact San Francisco? Until now, the precise dimensions of neutron stars have remained beyond the grasp of scientists.

Researchers have now, however, developed a new formula for estimating the size of neutron stars, doing so by analyzing the gravitational waves produced by merging neutron stars.

At a certain point, neutron stars become so dense that they collapse and become black holes, but scientists have struggled to pinpoint this threshold. To narrow the size limits of neutron stars, researchers compared the predictions of two billion theoretical models of neutron stars.

Scientists constrained the models with parameters observed in the gravitational waves generated by a neutron star merger called GW170817.

"By exploring the results for all possible values of the parameters, we can effectively reduce our uncertainties," Luciano Rezzolla, a researcher with the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, said in a news release.

The results, detailed in the journal Physical Review Letters, suggests neutron stars boast a diameter between 12 and 13.5 kilometers, or 7.4 and 8.4 miles.

"However, there is a twist to all this, as neutron stars can have twin solutions," Goeth professor Juergen Schaffner-Bielich said.

A phase transition at even greater densities could cause ultra-dense neutron stars to exist at even smaller dimensions.

Related Links
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Old star clusters could have been the birthplace of supermassive stars
Surrey UK (SPX) Jun 25, 2018
A team of international astrophysicists may have found a solution to a problem that has perplexed scientists for more than 50 years: why are the stars in globular clusters made of material different to other stars found in the Milky Way? In a study published by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the team led by the University of Surrey, introduce a new actor to the equation that could solve the problem - a supermassive star. The Milky Way galaxy hosts over 150 old globular cl ... read more