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Stellar Wind Disruption by an Orbiting Neutron Star

A tiny neutron star orbits incessantly around a massive star with a diameter a million times larger than its own. The high luminosity of the massive star drives a strong wind from its surface. The neutron star crashes through this wind at over 300 kilometers per second. The gravity and X-ray luminosity of the neutron star act to disrupt the wind, producing an extended wake of dense gas trailing behind the neutron star.

The numerical simulations depicted here were computed using the Cray X-MP 48 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.


A simulation of the turbulent wake of a neutron star in orbit around a massive star    A simulation of the turbulent wake of a neutron star in orbit around a massive star
Duration: 17.0 seconds
Available formats:
  352x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   2 MB
  160x80       PNG           16 KB
  80x40         PNG           5 KB
  320x238     JPEG         7 KB
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Animation Number:3
Animators:John Blondin (Lead)
 Alan McConnell
Studio:SVS
Completed:1990-07-10
Scientists:Ian Stevens (NASA/GSFC)
 Tim Kallman (NASA/GSFC)
 Bruce Fryxell (University of Arizona)
 Ron Taam (Northwestern University)
 John Blondin (NASA/GSFC)
Series:Neutron Star Tidal Distortion
Video:SVS1990-0001 *
Keywords:
SVS >> Neutron Star
DLESE >> Space science
Science paper:Blondin, J. M., Kallman, T. R. , Fryxell, B. A., Taam, R. E., Hydrodynamic Simulations of Stellar Wind Disruption by a Compact X-ray Source, ApJ, 356, 591-608, 1990
 
 
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NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Scientific Visualization Studio


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