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Neutron Star

One of the likely evolutionary end points of very high mass stars is considered to be a neutron star. It is the collapsed core of a star with high solar masses. It is about 1.4 times the mass of our Sun with about 20km in diameter. A surface gravitational field possessed by Neutron Stars is about 2 x 10^11 times that of our planet Earth. A neutron star is so dense that it causes the protons and electrons to combine into neutrons thus giving the star its name.



Formation A neutron Star is formed when a large star grows to about four to eight times the size of our sun and exploding in cataclysmic supernova. After the explosion the outer layers of the star are blown away and only the core of the star is left without undergoing nuclear fusion. There is no outward pressure that exits to counterbalance the inward pull of gravity, the star collapses in upon itself and gets more condensed.

Structure

A neutron star can be divided into four main layers. An outer crust, about a few hundred meters thick all composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei. The density known to exist in this layer is about one ton per cubic centimeter. The second layer also known as the inner crust, where the free neutrons add to the atomic nuclei and the free electrons produce a very dense solid layer. The further down lays the liquid outer core with free electrons, protons, neutrons and muons existing together in a nuclear soap. In the final layer the density grows enough that describing the particle interaction becomes very complicated due to our limited knowledge at these densities. The inner core stays the mysterious zone where elementary particles behave in a very unpredictable way.