Science: Astronomers have discovered a “dead star,” a neutron star spinning at an incredible 716 times a second, making it the fastest spinning cosmic body ever observed. Not only that, but the surface of the neutron star is also bursting with powerful explosions similar to the detonation of nuclear bombs. The team discovered the extreme stellar remnant using NASA’s X-ray telescope Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), mounted on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS).
The explosive speed demon neutron star is part of the binary system 4U 1820-30, located in the globular cluster NGC 6624, which lies about 26 light-years from Earth toward the center of the galaxy in the constellation of Sagittarius. “We were studying thermonuclear explosions from this system and then found remarkable oscillations, which suggest a neutron star spinning around its central axis at an astonishing 716 times per second,” said team member Gaurav K. Jaiswal said in a statement.
When it comes to its rotation rate, the only body that comes close to the neutron star in 4U 1820-30 is another neutron star, PSR J1748–2446, which spins 716 times per second or 42,960 times per minute. The other resident of the 4U 1820-30 binary is another stellar corpse, a white dwarf, a type of remnant that stars with a mass comparable to the Sun leave behind when they die. This white dwarf is also a fast-moving star, orbiting its neutron star companion once every 11 minutes! That means it is the binary star system with the shortest orbital period ever observed.
The neutron stars mentioned above are formed when stars more massive than the Sun, at least 8 times the mass of the Sun, run out of fuel for nuclear fusion. Stellar death is important for understanding the extreme properties of neutron stars, such as their rapid rotation rates and the thermonuclear explosions that rock their surfaces.
