Neutron Star Question

excalibus

excalibus
Yesterday I was zooming around a neutron star and for the first time I noticed it had an effect similar to that of a black hole (warping the light of the stars in the background)

It's the first time I have noticed this with neutron stars, is this normal?
 

Eisen

Eisen
The "lensing"-effect is caused by the high mass of Neutron-Stars, Black Holes and White Dwarves as well. So yes, that is normal:)
 

excalibus

excalibus
thanks for the video and info :)

have any of you encountered a
HERBIG AE / BE Star?
I did today on my way to WP 14 in the DWE, never seen that sort of star before, I thought at first it was a white T-Tauri...
 

EddyRockSteady

EddyRockSteady
excalibus said:
thanks for the video and info :)

have any of you encountered a
HERBIG AE / BE Star?
I did today on my way to WP 14 in the DWE, never seen that sort of star before, I thought at first it was a white T-Tauri...
Click to expand...

Here's my Pride and Joy discovery of my first exploration expedition: An Orange Ae/Be star:

[video=youtube;-5R2d4d4MKQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5R2d4d4MKQ[/video]

Notice how fast they spin? I spent a huge amount of time there just staring lol
 

Whiterose

Whiterose
Yes its normal, it is most manifest the first time you enter the system, there is a sort of wave effect, its a good indicator you are in a neutron system if you didn't already know, and could potentially stop the neutron facepalm blues.
 

iain666

iain666
Ziljan said:
I think you mean density ;)
Click to expand...

Both, surely...

You need both the large mass and to arrange it in that high density form to get the obvious lensing - neither on their own produces the extreme effect, be that a lower density stellar body or a solitary atomic nucleus wondering where its electrons have gotten to.
 

Ziljan

Ziljan
iain666 said:
Both, surely...

You need both the large mass and to arrange it in that high density form to get the obvious lensing - neither on their own produces the extreme effect, be that a lower density stellar body or a solitary atomic nucleus wondering where its electrons have gotten to.
Click to expand...

Density of non sequence objects:

White dwarf 109 kg/m3

Neutron star 1017 kg/m3

Black hole 1030 kg/m3

Mass of non-sequnce objects

White dwarf ~1 solar mass

Neutron star ~1.5 solar masses

Black hole ~2.5 solar masses

So first off just looking at these two sets of numbers, the masses are (on astronomical scales) roughly equal. Meanwhile the densities differences are HUGE. Larger in fact that the number of planets in a galaxy. ;)


Second, the amount of lensing depends primarily on the distance and the density. The mass is at most a tertiary factor that influences the density based on degeneracy pressure regimes. For instance, small mass black holes that are barely larger than a neutron star can have as much lensing as Sgr A* if you get a few km away. Which you can do. But neutron stars only a fraction of a solar mass lighter will force you to keep a distance that keeps the lensing very mild.

Meanwhile white dwarfs allow you to get very close and some have masses similar to neutron stars, but the lensing is least noticeable of all three objects.
 

iain666

iain666
You can have neutron star density with much smaller masses and the lensing isn't noticeable (or even measurable? Could you theoretically skim a single photon past a single neutron close enough to measure the deflection? I don't know...).

I was merely, tongue firmly in cheek, pointing out that you need a sufficiently massive and dense thing to see lensing, not just a sufficiently dense thing.
 

Ziljan

Ziljan
Because of critical mass limits for each object type, yes, the densities are gated. But its really the distance from center of mass, while still being outside the whole mass that allows you see the lensing. Physically that distance is only limited by the radius of the object (eg the density), but in ED, we are also prevented from getting close enough to neutron stars to see the lensing fully, so they aren't a good example I guess :)
 
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