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Einstein's Warping Seen Around Neutron Stars

Posted August 28, 2007 11:15 AM

From Space.com - Science:

Einstein's predicted warping of space-time has been discovered around neutron stars, the most dense observable matter in the universe. The warping shows up as smeared lines of iron gas whipping around the stars, University of Michigan and NASA astronomers say. The finding also indicates a size limit for the celestial objects. The same distortions have been spotted around black holes and even around Earth, so while the finding may not be a surprise, it is significant for answering basic questions of physics, said study team member Sudip Bhattacharyya of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. and the University of Maryland, College Park. "This is fundamental physics," Bhattacharyya said. "There could be exotic kinds of particles or states of matter, such as quark matter, in the centers of neutron stars, but it's impossible to create them in the lab. The only way to find out is to understand neutron stars."

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Engineering Fields - Aerospace Engineering - Retired South Africa - Member - The Rainbow-nation Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Relativity & Cosmology Popular Science - Cosmology - The Big Picture!

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#1

Re: Einstein's Warping Feen Around Neutron Stars

08/29/2007 1:30 AM

The original NASA article[1] is slightly better.

I have not seen the full technical article yet, but I'm wondering how the neutron star's spin axis is oriented relative to Earth.

From the rough information given, the neutron star's surface must be at about 3 times its Schwarzschild radius. In non-frame-dragged terms, that would give a highest orbital speed of ~40% of c for the gas, as the articles states. However, neutron stars normally spin very fast, causing inertial frame dragging. If the spin axis is anywhere near perpendicular to our line of sight, it would change the orbital speeds considerably.

Jorrie

[1] http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/probe_matter.html

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