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posted by martyb on Monday September 16 2019, @09:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the How-much-is-that-in-kilograms-per-liter? dept.

https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2019/09/16/wvu-astronomers-help-detect-the-most-massive-neutron-star-ever-measured

West Virginia University researchers have helped discover the most massive neutron star to date, a breakthrough uncovered through the Green Bank Telescope in Pocahontas County.

The neutron star, called J0740+6620, is a rapidly spinning pulsar that packs 2.17 times the mass of the sun (which is 333,000 times the mass of the Earth) into a sphere only 20-30 kilometers, or about 15 miles, across. This measurement approaches the limits of how massive and compact a single object can become without crushing itself down into a black hole.

The star was detected approximately 4,600 light-years from Earth. One light-year is about six trillion miles.


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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday September 17 2019, @06:07AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 17 2019, @06:07AM (#895023) Journal

    At 30km diameter, the density is about 1.415×1014kg/litre.
    For perspective, this is a bit heavier than even the typical yo' mamma.

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