ExploraTour: A Peek into the Lives of the Stars


How Can Such High Densities be Created?

Cartoon Morph of the Formation of a Neutron Star

What Happens to Stars Much Heavier Than The Sun?

STAGE 4a: Neutron Star

After the supernova blast blows off the outer layers of the star, all that is left is the central core. The core now contains a mass between 1.4 and 3.0 times the sun's mass but condensed into a volume 10- to 20- km across - roughly the size of a small town on Earth.

The matter in a neutron star would be incredible to behold. It is thought to be no longer gaseous. The surface may be crystalline.

Densities are a trillion times greater than those in a white dwarf. In fact, it is so dense that one teaspoonfull would outweigh the Empire State Building.

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