Our Bizarre Universe part 2: Neutron Stars
Before you read the rest of this article, take a look at the phone or computer you’re using and try to picture the factory it was created in. Now, go back further and think of the metals that make it up, which, in fact, once sat deep in the Earth waiting to be mined. And now, turn your gaze billions of years into the past and try to imagine some of these same metals, squeezed into the center of a glowing blue star. You probably wouldn’t believe it, but parts of your computer were originally made in the hearts of what scientists call neutron stars, some of the most fascinating things in the universe.
First, let's take a look at how a neutron star forms. Think of a neutron star as a zombie of outer space, starting its life right after a star has died. But not just any star can lead to this “zombie” neutron star - only stars that are several times more massive than our own sun can. These giant stars, like all stars, use fuel to stay alive. This fuel comes in the form of hydrogen, and then later, once all the hydrogen has been used up, helium. Like how two superheroes shoot beams of energy that collide and balance in midair, a star uses its fuel to constantly release heat and energy that balances the force of gravity, which wants to squeeze the sun into itself. So once the sun uses up all its fuel, gravity wins, and crushes the entire sun into its core in a fraction of a second. Because the sun’s core is made up of iron and other heavier elements, the collapsing sun bounces off its metal core and bursts outwards in a magnificent and colorful explosion called a supernova. However, something remains where the star used to be - a small, glowing blue neutron star.
So, neutron stars are super dense suns created when another sun dies. But what makes them so special? Well, first, these stars are extremely dense. While neutron stars are only the size of a small city, they can have up to two times the mass as our sun! This makes them the second most dense object in the universe, right behind black holes. Also, because neutron stars are so dense, they have the ability to fuse new elements together such as gold, platinum, and palladium - all metals that make up our electronic devices. When two neutron stars collide, they produce a spectacular explosion called a kilonova, which shoots all the metals that the neutron stars made into space. Scientists think that billions of years ago, while the planets were still forming, these metals from kilonova explosions reached the solar system and buried their way deep into the Earth. Now, we use them to create all of our electronics!
To conclude, while scientists have many ideas and hypotheses about neutron stars and how they form, there are still many mysteries, and much remains to be learned about these extravagant stellar phenomena.
