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It occurred to me that the neutron star may be wobble spinning and we only catch it flashing by now and again when it gets round to pointing in our direction. D
by davidhyde 2y ago
It occurred to me that the neutron star may be wobble spinning and we only catch it flashing by now and again when it gets round to pointing in our direction. Does anyone here know if this even a possibility for such an object or would it’s internal uniformity (in composition) prohibit such behaviour?
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- jiggawatts 2y agoIt should be impossible. The rotational inertia of these things is absolutely insane. They’re the mass of a star! Nothing short of a very close very massive black hole could alter their spin axis quickly. They’re also extremely symmetrical objects because of the enormous surface gravity. A “mountain” on a neutron star is about a millimeter high.
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- davidhyde 2y agoIt could be a periodic spin change caused by a large, unseen, object orbiting it. Alternatively, the angle of the cone of radiation coming from the poles might be tightening and enlarging on a cyclical basis and we may see the glancing blows as a large sector sweeps by our viewpoint. Periodic spin changes: https://sciencex.com/news/2021-09-pulse-neutron-star-decades-cyclic.html https://sciencex.com/news/2021-09-pulse-neutron-star-decades...