Neutron stars condense masses more than the Sun into a size smaller than the Earth. We may know some things about them, but scientists have yet to discover what they are made of.
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IN SPACE - DECEMBER 1: In this handout from NASA, the mosaic image, one of the largest ever taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, shows six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion as released December 2, 2005.
According to a press statement, some scientists believe that they have narrowed-down the possibilities for the so-called Equation of State (EoS) of neutron stars. The EoS determined the composition of a neutron star.
Since they are so distant, scientists only rely on indirect properties to measure the EoS. Now, some scientists proposes peak spectral frequency or f2 as a way to measure the radius of small, distant space objects.
The f2 of a neutron star is measured through strong bursts of gravitational wave emissions, which are emitted when two neutron stars collide. Previously, f2 was thought to be a good proxy for radius since they believed it has a direct correspondence existed between the two.
Now, the scientists said that the EoS is more akin to calculating the longest side of an irregular triangle.
Also Read: Neutron Stars Merging Into Each Other Cause Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
Next-Gen Gravitational Wave Research
With the new study, it can help guide future research about neutron star mergers through gravitational wave observatories that will success the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) of NASA. LIGO has always been used to detect huge black hole mergers that also send gravitational waves cascading through the universe.
Now, the scientists believe that their new method can be used to see inside a neutron star to ascertain its composition essentially.
Simply put, they are hoping that they will be able to observe and learn more about neutron stars to help with the follow-up research that can aid with the development of a next-generation gravitational wave observatory.
They also said that the new observatory will help astronomers in the future to learn more about distant quasars and the end-times of black holes.
The Future Of Astronomy
The neutron star research may also open up the path for future astrophysics research on smaller objects.
The scientists are now working on the development of a method to observe and learn more about neutron stars entirely. They believe that their new method can be a key to understanding about the composition of neutron stars, which is still unknown to this day.
They also said that their new method will hopefully lead the way to a future method that can be used to study the so-called dark stars. The scientists believe that these dark stars can be formed when the gas of two colliding neutron stars get pulled into the center of the newly formed neutron star and leaves behind a black hole.
The new method will allow them to make use of gravitational waves to determine the EoS of dark stars and also make use of transit spectroscopy to get an idea of their radius.
Related Article: Researchers Discover a Neutron Star that Could Rewrite How We Understand Stars
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Written by April Fowell
