Why does neutron stars spin rapidly? Neutron stars rotate extremely rapidly after their formation due to the conservation of angular momentum; in analogy to spinning ice skaters pulling in their arms, the slow rotation of the original star’s core speeds up...
What happens during a helium flash? During the helium flash, a star’s degenerate core is heated so intensely that it finally “vaporizes”, so to speak. That is, individual nuclei begin moving so fast that they can “boil away” and escape it....
Why does the short length of pulsar pulses eliminate normal stars as possible pulsars? Why does the short length of pulsar pulses eliminate normal stars as possible pulsars? An object cannot emit pulses that are shorter than the time it takes...
What is a pulsar Why do they pulse at such short regular intervals? A pulsar is a rapidly rotating neutron star. The “pulses” of radiation we see from a pulsar are due to a misalignment of the neutron star’s rotation axis...
Are neutron stars luminous? The intrinsic brightness or luminosity is proportional to the square of the size and the fourth power of the temperature; the luminosity of a neutron star compared to the Sun is (10/7×105)2 x (106/5800)4, which is about...
How do black holes generate X-rays? Black holes are detected as surrounding material (like gas) is funnelled by the force of gravity into a disk around the black hole. The gas molecules in the disk swirl around the black hole so...
What do all stars on the main sequence do? Most stars are main sequence stars that fuse hydrogen to form helium in their cores – including our sun. What are the characteristics of main sequence stars? A main sequence star is...
Why is the turn off point related to the age of a star cluster? As a cluster ages, the mass of the main-sequence turnoff stars decreases. By determining the mass of the main-sequence turnoff stars, we get the age of the...
Do neutron stars have an upper mass limit? Neutron stars cannot exceed 2.2 solar masses before collapsing into black holes. What is the upper limit to the mass of a neutron star quizlet? There is no upper limit to the mass...
How can mass transfer to a compact object occur? 40. How can mass transfer to a compact object occur? Mass can flow from one object to another in binary systems. How does the lighthouse model explain pulsars? It is a similar...