Most ordinary matter is held together by an invisible subatomic glue known as the strong nuclear force -- one of the four fundamental forces in nature, along with gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak force. The strong nuclear force is responsible... Continue Reading →
What do neutron stars look like? Previously these city-sized stars were too small and too far away to resolve. Recently, however, the first maps of the locations and sizes of hotspots on a neutron star's surface have been made by carefully modeling how the rapid spin... Continue Reading →
For decades, scientists have speculated about the origin of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from celestial regions that host black holes and neutron stars -- the most mysterious objects in the universe. Astrophysicists believe that this high-energy radiation -- which makes... Continue Reading →
Neutron stars -- the compressed remains of massive stars gone supernova -- are the densest "normal" objects in the known universe. (Black holes are technically denser, but far from normal.) Just a single sugar-cube worth of neutron-star material would weigh... Continue Reading →
Scents of Science 