'Black neutron star' discovery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

'Black neutron star' discovery changes astronomy

Quote

Scientists have discovered an astronomical object that has never been observed before.

It is more massive than collapsed stars, known as "neutron stars", but has less mass than black holes.

Such "black neutron stars" were not thought possible and will mean ideas for how neutron stars and black holes form will need to be rethought.

  Read More: BBC News

 

[Damien99]

This is way over my head can someone please break it down easier to understand 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

12 minutes ago, Damien99 said:

This is way over my head can someone please break it down easier to understand 

Given previous experience with you I suspect the answer is no, it is not possible to break it down so that you can understand it.

You would have to understand what a black hole is. You would have to understand what a neutron star is. You would have to understand what gravity is. You would have to understand what matter is. All of these things require you to take the advice you have been given over and over again and read an introduction to astronomy.

[zep73]

I have always wondered how big the critical mass to become a black hole is. When the photons can no longer escape and when the particles collapse, now seems to be two events that are not necessarily inseparable. Black holes can have an evolution. Very interesting!

Edited June 23, 2020 by sci-nerd

[Waspie_Dwarf]

9 minutes ago, sci-nerd said:

I have always wondered how big the critical mass to become a black hole is. 

In theory an object of any mass can become a black hole. It is density that is critical rather than mass.

If you think of stellar-mass black holes the black hole is what remains after a supernova explosion. The black hole has considerably less mass than the progenitor star. The explosion occurs deep within the star but above the core. This blows most of the star into deep space but compresses the core, increasing its density and producing a black hole. 

The Earth would need to be compressed to a radius of only 9mm to become a black hole. 

The radius at which an object becomes a black hole is known as the Schwarzschild radius. Here is a wiki article on it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzschild_radius

[zep73]

21 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

In theory an object of any mass can become a black hole. It is density that is critical rather than mass.

If you think of stellar-mass black holes the black hole is what remains after a supernova explosion. The black hole has considerably less mass than the progenitor star. The explosion occurs deep within the star but above the core. This blows most of the star into deep space but compresses the core, increasing its density and producing a black hole. 

The Earth would need to be compressed to a radius of only 9mm to become a black hole. 

The radius at which an object becomes a black hole is known as the Schwarzschild radius. Here is a wiki article on it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzschild_radius

Thanks. Astronomy is not my top priority, but I always love to learn more. I considered the Schwarzchild radius a black hole unit only. Maybe because it's always talked about in BH discussions.

A funny thing - well almost a cosmic joke - is that the (observable) universe has an LY S-radius that's almost identical to its age! 13.7B LY 

Edited June 24, 2020 by sci-nerd

[bison]

The radius of the observable universe is reported to be 46.5 billion light years.