Neutron star smashes speed limit!!!!

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #1 13-01-2006, 05:07 PM

Check this out for Rotational Speed!
They have discovered a Neutron Star that rotates at 716 times per second!!!!

http://www.newscientistspace.com/art...eed-limit.html

ving (David) · #2 13-01-2006, 05:57 PM

i can do that!!

nice find sir ken!

acropolite (Phil) · #3 13-01-2006, 07:28 PM

How can they tell if it is really spinning that fast, or is it emitting more than one beam...???

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #4 13-01-2006, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acropolite

How can they tell if it is really spinning that fast,

Speed Camera Phil! Rotton Cops are everywhere!!

Dunno, I'll read some more about measuring Neutron Stars then tell you.

Ta Vingo, I like to keep check on that site regularly.

Rodstar (Rod) · #5 13-01-2006, 08:25 PM

My head started spinning when I read that article (but fortunately not at a rate of 716 revolutions per second).

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #6 13-01-2006, 09:53 PM

Hard to imagine a rock of about 1 metre spinning that fast! Now imagine a star that measures anything up to 16 kilometres doing it!!!!

Mind-boggling stuff.

mickoking · #7 13-01-2006, 10:00 PM

Thats 42960 RPM WOW. My bike redlines at 11000rpm and thats pretty frantic (not to mention much smaller).

The Universe is pretty incredable

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #8 13-01-2006, 10:05 PM

That's why I love astronomy so much. The mind-boggling figures: Speed, distances, sizes, ages, masses, pressures etc!

99% of it all is un-imaginable . . . and we get to look at it

acropolite (Phil) · #9 13-01-2006, 11:17 PM

Ken wrote

Quote:

99% of it all is un-imaginable

99% is probably theory as well. I'm always a bit sceptical of claims made on the basis of theories.

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #10 13-01-2006, 11:27 PM

Yes Phil, methinks they come up with an awful lot of 'theories'.

It would be more realistic if they said "Dunno how mate, but doesn't it look pretty"

MarkN · #11 11-02-2006, 08:27 PM

I'm a bit late here but here goes anyway.

With pulsars the magnetic poles (the source of the radio waves) are not necessarily on the rotational axis. Consequently, the radio waves are received at any particular location anytime they sweep past like a lighthouse.

What puzzles me even more than that is how any companion star can continue to exist after its mate has commited stellar seppuku in the manner of a supernova.

Clues anyone?

Mark.

astroron (Ron) · #12 11-02-2006, 09:05 PM

I understand that it all depends on the mass of the secondary star, that is the star that is loosing matter to the white dwarf, which when it explodes and becomes a neutron star sends the remaining remnants of the primary star having lost most of its mass flying through space.
It is now thought that Supernovae do not explode equaly in all directions, so the secondary star may not get the full blast of the of the explosion but still receive enough force to send it on its way astroron

stinky · #13 11-02-2006, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

Hard to imagine a rock of about 1 metre spinning that fast! Now imagine a star that measures anything up to 16 kilometres doing it!!!!

Mind-boggling stuff.

Pretty faaaaaast if yo're standing on it.

- ok 16km x 3.14 @ 716 times per second = 35 971 km per second

This is almost 2.2 milion kilometeres a minute.

Which is per hour.... Oh oh calculator just maxed out and came up with an 'E'.

Are we getting into relatvistic issues here?

[1ponders] (Paul) · #14 11-02-2006, 11:16 PM

About an eight the speed of light by the look of it.