Universe  ID: 13240

NASA’s NICER Sizes Up a Pulsar, Reveals First-ever Surface Map

Scientists have reached a new frontier in our understanding of pulsars, the dense, whirling remains of exploded stars, thanks to observations from NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). Data from this X-ray telescope aboard the International Space Station has produced the first precise and dependable measurements of both a pulsar’s size and its mass.

The pulsar in question, J0030+0451 (J0030 for short), is a solitary pulsar that lies 1,100 light-years away in the constellation Pisces. While measuring the pulsar's heft and proportions, NICER revealed that the shapes and locations of million-degree hot spots on the pulsar’s surface are much stranger than generally thought.

Using NICER observations from July 2017 to December 2018, two groups of scientists mapped J0030’s hot spots using independent methods and converged on nearly identical results for its mass and size. One team, led by researchers at the University of Amsterdam, determined the pulsar is around 1.3 times the Sun’s mass, 15.8 miles (25.4 kilometers) across and has two hot spots — one small and circular, the other long and crescent-shaped. A second team found J0030 is about 1.4 times the Sun’s mass, about 16.2 miles (26 kilometers) wide and has two or three oval-shaped hot spots. All spots in all models are in the pulsar’s southern hemisphere — unlike textbook images where the spots lie on opposite sides other at each magnetic poles.
 

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For More Information

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-nicer-delivers-best-ever-pulsar-measurements-1st-surface-map/


Credits

Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Lead Producer
Jeanette Kazmierczak (University of Maryland College Park): Lead Science Writer
Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Science Writer
Zaven Arzoumanian (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Michael Lentz (USRA): Animator
Sharon Morsink (University of Alberta): Visualizer
Barb Mattson (University of Maryland College Park): Narrator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Editor
Alice Harding (NASA/GSFC): Visualizer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. However, individual items should be credited as indicated above.

Science Paper:
https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205/page/Focus_on_NICER_Constraints_on_the_Dense_Matter_Equation_of_State

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13240

Mission:
Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER)

This item is part of these series:
Narrated Movies
Astrophysics Visualizations
Astrophysics Animations
Astrophysics Features

Keywords:
SVS >> Neutron Star
SVS >> X-ray
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> Astrophysics
SVS >> Pulsar
SVS >> Space
SVS >> Star
NASA Science >> Universe
SVS >> NICER