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Article: Spinning faster in their graves. (neutron star)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 28, 1988
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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FOR stars, at least, there is an after-life of sorts. After billions of years of life, there comes a time when a star finds that nuclear fusion can no longer support it at the size to which it has become accustomed, and so it collapses. What is left behind depends on the size of the star. Small stars, like the sun, leave white dwarfs. The biggest leave black holes. Those of intermediate size have neutron stars to mark their graves.
A neutron star is a tiny tombstone: only 20 kilometres or so across. But much of the star lives on in it. Forcing the properties of a large star into such a small space will necessarily exaggerate them. The neutron star's magnetic ...