4 ms·
Perhaps I'm really being thick, but I take the answer as: if matter falls directly down onto a neutron star, that infalling mass doesn't add any spin. If that
by zasdffaa 4y ago
Perhaps I'm really being thick, but I take the answer as: if matter falls directly down onto a neutron star, that infalling mass doesn't add any spin.
If that mass comes down at an angle to the star (and it's swirling, right?), the kinetic energy gives a sideways push where it hits, like someone brushing the side of a football - it adds some rotational energy.
But that seems a trivial answer so I guess you're asking something deeper?
- lloeki 4y agoI may be entirely wrong, but I don't think the analogy holds, as friction is what makes the football spin. Maybe a better one would be a spinning ice skater: going from wide arms to closed arms increases angular velocity. Indeed consider the ingress mass and the neutron star as a single system, ingress mass gets closer (as the ice skater arms do) and angular velocity increases. Collapse is what makes it spin faster. (but again I may be wrong so please correct me)