When a massive star dies, its core contracts. In a supernova explosion, the star’s outer layers are expelled, leaving behind an ultra-compact neutron star. For the first time, the LIGO and Virgo Observatories have recently been able to observe the merger of two neutron stars and measure the mass of the merging stars. Together, the neutron stars had a mass of 2.74 solar masses. Based on these observational data, an international team of scientists from Germany, Greece, and Japan including HITS astrophysicist Dr. Andreas Bauswein has managed to narrow down the size of neutron stars with the aid of computer simulations. The calculations suggest that the neutron star radius must be at least 10.7 km. The international research team’s results have been published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
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