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NASA'S Chandra Finds Superconducting Superfluid in Neutron Star's Core

03/04/2011 01:09AM

NASA'S Chandra Finds Superconducting Superfluid in Neutron Star's Core

Neutron stars contain the densest known matter that is directly observable. One teaspoon of neutron star material weighs six billion tons. The pressure in the star's core is so high that most of the charged particles, electrons and protons, merge resulting in a star composed mostly of uncharged particles called neutrons. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered the first direct evidence for a superfluid, a bizarre, friction-free state of matter, at the core of a neutron star. Superfluids created in laboratories on Earth exhibit remarkable properties, such as the ability to climb upward and escape airtight containers. The finding has important implications for understanding nuclear interactions in matter at the highest known densities.


Comments:

  • jpc [Jon Cook]
  • 03/04/2011 08:22PM
"The rapid cooling in Cas A's neutron star, seen with Chandra, is the first direct evidence that the cores of these neutron stars are, in fact, made of super-fluid and superconducting material.<br><br>Why? IN FACT? :S