Scientists have discovered something that interferes with our understanding of star physics

Astronomers believe that it is a neutron star, but it amazes scientists with its properties. It only has 77 percent. The mass of our Sun, the lowest mass ever measured for an object of its kind. The mass of the previous record holder was 1.17 times the mass of the Sun. Interestingly, the studied neutron star has a mass lower than the minimum mass of the neutron star, which current theories predict. This may indicate that we don’t know much about these types of creatures yet, or… The mysterious object is not a neutron star but an unknown “cosmic singularity”.

neutron stars They form during a supernova (a type of cosmic explosion) of stars 8 to 10 times the mass of the Sun. The material of these objects is very dense, with a mass of about 1.4 – twice the mass of the Sun and a diameter of 10-25 km. According to scientists, only one teaspoon of the substance weighs about 6 billion tons.

The star studied in the middle of the remnant A supernova called HESS J1731-347. Scientists were able to calculate its distance from Earth, which is 8150 light years. The star has a diameter of 10.4 kilometers, and its mass is surprisingly low, equal to 0.77 times the mass of the Sun. This suggests that it may not actually be a neutron star, but another “virtual object” that has yet to be recorded.

In their paper, the scientists wrote: “Our mass estimation makes the central body of HESS J1731-347 the lightest neutron star known to date and an even more exotic object – that is, it could be a candidate for the so-called strange star“The strange star is supposed to look very similar to a neutron star, but it will contain more of what is called Strange quarks. It is the third lightest of all quarks (a type of elementary particle). Physicists have been searching for quark matter and strange quark matter for decades.

The astronomers write in the article: “The obtained mass and radius constraints are still fully consistent with the standard interpretation of a neutron star and can be used to improve astrophysical constraints. […] It appears that such a bright neutron star, regardless of the supposed internal composition, as well A very interesting object from an astrophysical perspective“.