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Fascinating, do you know if protons can exist within neutron stars? That would make it each one an element, right? Or if not, they would all be isotopes of Neut
by BitwiseFool 5y ago
Fascinating, do you know if protons can exist within neutron stars? That would make it each one an element, right? Or if not, they would all be isotopes of Neutronium?
- Florin_Andrei 5y agoThere are no isotopes with neutron stars because they are not actually nuclei.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Thorondor 5y agoYes, it's thought that neutron stars are about 5-10% composed of protons and electrons. In fact, that's why a neutron star can have a magnetic field – charged particles are required to carry an electric current.
- ziotom78 5y agoHowever, in principle there should be a (perhaps very small?) component due to the inner magnetic momentum of neutrons [1], right? After all, they are made of quarks, which have nonzero charge. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_magnetic_moment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_magnetic_moment
- dredmorbius 5y agoThere's a gradient of material. At the core, a neutron star is likely very nearly pure neutronium, as other particles simply won't exist long under the conditions present. As depth decreases, other particles can exist, and at the surface there are likely free nuclei and atoms of elements, though my probably with low nuclear potential. Fission and fusion would be accelerated by the energies involved. That's a lay reading / bits of stray collected memories, though quick checking seems to confirm most of this. See: https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/objects/binaries/neutron_star_structure.html https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/objects/binaries/neutron_...