Video: Chandra Captures the First Direct Evidence of Superfluids at the Heart of Neutron Stars

By Clay Dillow Posted 02.24.2011 at 3:30 pm 8 Comments

Chandra's View of Cassiopeia A (Cas A) At the heart of this supernova remnant located in our Galaxy about 11,000 light years away, a neutron star is showing signs of a superfluid forming at its core, the first direct evidence of a superfluid forming in a neutron star. X-ray: NASA/CXC/xx; Optical: NASA/STScI; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

The cores of neutron stars are the densest observable known matter in the universe, so dense that a single teaspoon of neutron star core would weigh some six billion tons. That density makes them fascinating to those seeking to probe the properties of matter, and NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory has made an interesting discovery doing exactly that, finding the first direct evidence that matter there can take on a superfluid state.

Superfluids are strange states of matter, typically forming at very low and very high temperatures, exhibiting gonzo properties like a seemingly gravity-defying tendency to climb up the walls of containers and friction-free superconductivity. That is, they are perfect conductors that don’t lose energy during transmission. And the fact that they appear to exist at the center of neutron stars tells scientists a lot about nuclear interactions in high-density matter and the life-cycles of neutron stars.

The pressure within neutron stars is so intense that in the stars’ cores, charged particles merge, resulting in a star mostly consisting of neutrons (hence the name). This pressure also gives off a great deal of heat. But in looking at supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, about 11,000 light years away, Chandra noticed an ultra-dense neutron star that was bleeding temperature at a rate of about four percent per decade, a rapid and anomalous decline.

The explanation, two independent teams of researchers have concluded, is that protons at the star’s core have taken on a superfluid state, causing the star to cool more quickly than expected. Catching Cas A’s superfluid neutron star at this particular point in its life cycle should allow researchers to test models of how the strong nuclear force works in super-dense matter and study some of the stranger characteristics of neutron stars, like glitches in their rotations and odd occurrences in their magnetic fields.

[NASA]

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8 Comments

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wmmurphy

02/24/11 at 5:31 pm

"Video: Chandra Captures the First Direct Evidence of Superfluids at the Heart of Neutron Stars"

Yay, cool video. The possibility of seeing superfluidic motion on a large scale at extreme high temps, cool!

WTH... the commercial you are forced to watch is longer than this so called video you have. Get rid of the "video" in the title, it's false advertising.

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B.V.

02/24/11 at 6:10 pm

LOL

That was the worst "video" ever.

It's just a "zoom" effect on 2 static images.

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Breoghan

02/24/11 at 7:20 pm

uhhh... i more enjoyed the picture above the article than the grainy zoom onto 2 pictures preceded by an even longer ad. fail. lol

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GotchaLookin

02/25/11 at 1:33 am

Please correct "... protons at the star's core ..." to "... neutrons at the star's core ..."

A neutron star is so dense that infalling protons are fused to become more neutrons, releasing a neutrino for every new neutron.

A free proton liquid at the core of a neutron star would not be likely. Instead, at those pressures, the central core superliquid is pure neutron, with neutral electrical charge, and completely frictionless.

The cooling of Cass A is evidence of a state change as a remnant superconducting superliquid outer shell of protons fuses at increasing depths and pressure to become inner core neutrons.

The creation of neutrons at depth wicks heat away from Cass A by increasing the outward neutrino flux.

Capturing the angular momentum of the collapsing inner shell of Cass A's original supernova, the outer proton shell superliquid can generate a very strong magnetic field by spinning up - like an ice skater pulling her arms in.

The magnetic field is what causes Cass A to trap infalling ionized gases to generate strong high frequency radio pulses. Cass A is the "brightest" radio source outside of the Solar System.

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coollew

02/25/11 at 8:02 am

coollew
I'm still waiting for the video,
nice comercial.lol

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wmmurphy

02/25/11 at 2:54 pm

The above article was not written by Clay Dillow. It was copied and pasted.

But I still would like to see the word "Video" removed from the title, even the page you hacked it from calls it an animation.

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dontcallmechief

02/25/11 at 3:25 pm

Video? What a letdown.

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wmmurphy

02/26/11 at 12:48 am

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6-UMVhPOg is a video that has more about neutron star superfluidic motion than the animation in this story.

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