Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Researchers found a neutron star spinning at 716 times per second, marking it as one of the fastest rotating stars ever observed in the Milky Way.
NASA’s NICER X-ray telescope on the ISS captured explosive bursts from the star, shining 100,000 times brighter than the Sun and revealing intense details of its life cycle.
The star, called 4U 1820-30, emitted thermonuclear bursts that mimic atomic explosions, shedding light on element formation and the extreme nature of neutron stars.
During these explosions, the star releases energy equivalent to atomic bombs, becoming exceptionally bright and offering insights into the cycles of binary star systems.
Part of an X-ray binary system, 4U 1820-30 orbits with a white dwarf companion every 11 minutes—the shortest orbital period known for such systems.
This neutron star, 26,000 light-years away, is only 12 km across but packs 1.4 times the Sun's mass, spinning faster than nearly all known stars.
Neutron stars are some of the densest objects in the cosmos; 4U 1820-30’s rapid spin pushes the limits of known physics in stellar remnants.
This “dead” star formed from a massive supernova explosion. With NICER's help, scientists traced its intense thermonuclear bursts to its rotation.
Published in The Astrophysical Journal, the findings advance our understanding of neutron stars and their role in the universe’s elemental creation.