Why starquakes may explain various phenomena associated with neutron stars

Explaining pulsars, the cosmic clocks and lighthouses of the universe

As of 2023, over 3,000 of these rapidly rotating neutron stars have been discovered, which contain magnetic fields along which energized particles accelerate and emit light, including X-rays, gamma rays, visible light, and, most commonly, radio waves. The fastest of these, PSR J1748–2446ad, rotates 716 times per second, meaning its surface equator moves at about 24% the speed of light.

Listen to the sounds of pulsars, which emit radio pulses up to hundreds of times a second

Just as figure skaters spin faster by tucking in their arms, these celestial objects acquire high rates of spin from the collapse of the cores of massive stars. The star's rotation spins its magnetic field, generating beams of radio waves from its magnetic poles. If either of these poles faces a detector, the signals can be picked up and converted to audio signals.

What are pulsars?

Pulsars are neutron stars created as part of stellar evolution and emit radiation beams visible from Earth. These beams pulse like a lighthouse's light due to the star's rotation, creating periodic high-energy emissions. Pulsars were first discovered as radio sources; it was also discovered they emit gamma rays. NASA uses its Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to retrieve and analyze data from pulsars.

Neutron star types, categorized by the presence of strong magnetic fields and radiation beams

Magnetars have magnetic fields about 1,000 times stronger than the average neutron star—roughly a trillion times stronger than Earth's. Pulsars emit beams of radiation from their magnetic poles, which appear as flickering radio wave signals as the object spins.

In 1974, a pair of neutron stars provided the first evidence of gravitational waves

Observations of a pulsar—a rapidly rotating neutron star that emits light—revealed it to be part of a system of two stars that orbited one another in a shrinking orbit, indicating gradual energy loss. Calculations showed that the changing orbit was consistent with gravitational waves predicted to carry energy away from such a system.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

The hypothetical matter that neutron stars' cores may contain, including strange quarks

Models of the extreme pressures and energies in neutron stars suggest conditions resembling those believed to have existed within a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. In these environments, the quarks that make up protons and neutrons in trios may instead form pairs that combine to form one quantum object. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The formation of a neutron star through a core collapse lasts one-tenth of a second

Massive stars keep fusing heavier and heavier elements in their cores to produce energy that pushes against the weight of the star itself. However, the fusion of silicon into iron consumes energy and initiates a feedback loop that rapidly compresses the stellar core, creating neutrons and neutrinos from the combination of electrons and protons.

How neutron stars resemble Earth, including harboring an atmosphere and 'mountains'

These stars maintain an atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, and carbon at approximately 2,000,000 degrees Celsius (3,600,000 degrees Fahrenheit), only a few thousandths of a millimeter thick, which envelops "mountains" about a millimeter high. Its interior consists of an inner and an outer crust surrounding inner and outer cores, all held together by enormous gravitational forces despite spinning multiple times a second.

Quasars are extremely luminous cores of distant galaxies

Discovered in the 1950s through their intense radio signals, they are fueled by supermassive black holes with prominent accretion disks. The disks emit extreme radiation that heats and expels gas, halting star formation and altering the future of their host galaxies.

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

Boomerang earthquakes reverse direction and ripple back the way they came

Computer simulations show that rapid changes in friction along a fault where an earthquake has traveled for long distances can produce a smaller quake in the opposite direction. Data consistent with the phenomena has only been recorded a handful of times from 2011 to 2023.

Light echoes are expanding shells of reflected starlight

Just as sound waves reveal the location of obstacles by reflecting off them, pulses of light emitted by stars illuminate rings of interstellar dust, giving the appearance of ejected material as the light travels outward.

Electrical discharge from stressed rocks may produce lightning

Although flashes of light in the sky likely result from storms or damaged transformers and power lines coinciding with geological events, some scientists theorize that fracto-luminescence, or earthquake lights, may be caused by discharged built-up static electricity.

Quantum mechanics-based technology may explain the Fermi paradox

It describes the discrepancy between the high likelihood of life beyond Earth given the vastness of the universe and the lack of evidence for such life, since extraterrestrial civilizations have not communicated with us. However, quantum communication—a more information-dense and effective method than classical means—requires massive receivers and very narrow signals, which would easily miss Earth, making a lack of signals expected.

Animation of a Gamma-ray burst, the brightest explosion in the universe

Gamma-ray bursts are some of the most luminous explosions in the universe, the result of a star collapsing on itself and emitting massive jets of particles. See a brief animation of the phenomenon here.

Earthquakes of identical magnitudes are unlikely to cause equal damage

The severity of earthquakes depends on factors beyond the energy released in a region, including local architecture and geological conditions, such as water-saturated soil behaving like quicksand. Secondary effects, such as landslides, floods, and fires, may also contribute.

Cosmic rays are high-energy particles from outside the solar system

Trillions of these particles moving close to the speed of light hit Earth daily, with some originating from beyond our galaxy. While the planet’s magnetic field blocks most, some collide with atoms in the atmosphere, producing cascades of exotic secondary particles.

Less common types of radioactive decay include emitting neutrons and antimatter

Through neutron emission, one or more neutrons are ejected from atoms that have far fewer protons. Neutrons can also be released by artificially inducing the fission, or separation, of a large atomic nucleus into smaller ones. During beta-plus decay, a positron—the antimatter version of an electron—is produced when a proton turns into a neutron.

How big is a supernova explosion?

Supernovas are the biggest explosions in the universe, often obliterating the area surrounding them. So what would happen if one exploded near Earth? If the sun went supernova it'd be like getting hit by a nuclear explosion every second for weeks. Of course, that's not happening anytime soon. This animated video shows how distance is the key factor, and how you shouldn't be worried.

Differences in seismic wave speeds let scientists determine an earthquake’s location

Because primary waves are faster than secondary waves, seismic stations will detect longer gaps between these waves’ arrivals the farther an earthquake is. Calculating the distance to the earthquake from three stations allows its origin to be triangulated.

How the extended life of rapidly decaying particles supports the special theory of relativity

Muons produced in particle accelerators are known to decay into other particles after about 2.2 microseconds on average, but those produced in the atmosphere live much longer—enough to travel thousands of meters to detectors on Earth's surface. As predicted by the mathematics of special relativity, by traveling near the speed of light, muons experience time passing dozens of times more slowly, allowing them to live long enough to reach Earth's surface before decaying.

The interaction of quantum fields with black hole curvatures makes Hawking radiation

The classic explanation of Hawking radiation depicts virtual photons emitted from a black hole's event horizon. A more accurate explanation involves null geodesics, Bogoliubov transformations, and scattered quantum field nodes to explain the emission of thermal radiation.

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

Distinguishing between various solar surface phenomena, including solar flares and sunspots

Flares are sudden eruptions of electromagnetic radiation caused by a buildup of magnetic energy in the sun's atmosphere and often occur near sunspots, where strong magnetic fields limit the flow of hot material, creating these cooler regions. Flares can also be accompanied by coronal mass ejections—large explosions of plasma from the sun's upper atmosphere with their own magnetic fields.

How NASA measures marsquakes

Most probes sent to other planets and asteroids focus on surface phenomena, but NASA's InSight Lander is interested in looking deeper. Studying marsquakes as well as the red planet's crust and core, InSight provided four years of insight into how the rocky planets of the inner solar system formed.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

Earth's core is about 2.5 years younger than its surface according to relativity

Due to differences in where objects are located within gravitational fields, time will run at different rates, which has major impacts on technology that relies on synchronization. For example, GPS satellites run about 38 microseconds faster every day than clocks on Earth's surface, resulting in GPS discrepancies of about six miles, were it not for software corrections.

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

Coral polyps reproduce via broadcast spawning, where entire reefs simultaneously release reproductive cells for about one hour, once a year.

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.