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hue Neutron Stars
Heavy teaspoon, heavy teaspoon / Six billion tons in a single spoon!
hue Irish astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the first neutron star in 1967 using a hand-built radio telescope.
Fun Fact
Neutron star density: A single teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh as much as Mount Everest.
hue Neutron stars pack the mass of a giant sun into a sphere the size of a city.
Glossary
supernova (noun)
A star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness because of a catastrophic explosion that ejects most of its mass. In 1054, Chinese astronomers recorded one such explosion that created the famous Crab Nebula neutron star.
A star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness because of a catastrophic explosion that ejects most of its mass. In 1054, Chinese astronomers recorded one such explosion that created the famous Crab Nebula neutron star.
Quiz
What is the approximate weight of a teaspoon of neutron star material?
Quiz
How much stronger is a neutron star's crust compared to steel?
hue In Cambridge, graduate student Bell Burnell discovered a rapidly spinning neutron star pulsing every 1.3 seconds.
Quiz
What was the humorous nickname given to the first pulsing radio signal detected from space?
Quiz
What subatomic particles are forced together to form neutrons during a star's collapse?
Quiz
Which historical astronomers recorded the supernova of 1054 CE that created the Crab Nebula?
Quiz
What is the minimum mass a star must have to eventually form a neutron star?
hue In 2008, physicists explained that any microscopic black holes created by CERN would be completely harmless.
hue Black holes of any size contain a singularity, and some hypothetical quasi-stars have black holes inside.
hue Black Hole Anatomy
Past the event horizon, falling right in, no light escapes!
hue Superheated gas and dust swirl around the black hole, glowing brightly before they fall in.
Fun Fact
Gravitational lensing: Black holes bend light like a cosmic magnifying glass, warping the image of stars behind them.
hue At the very center of a black hole lies the singularity, where all matter is crushed into zero volume.
Glossary
event horizon (noun)
The boundary surrounding a black hole from which no matter or radiation can escape. In 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope captured the first direct image of this boundary around Sagittarius A.
The boundary surrounding a black hole from which no matter or radiation can escape. In 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope captured the first direct image of this boundary around Sagittarius A.
Quiz
At what speed would an object need to travel to escape a black hole once inside the event horizon?
Quiz
What is the infinitely dense point at the center of a black hole called?
Quiz
What optical effect occurs when a black hole's gravity bends light from stars behind it?
Quiz
Whose theory of general relativity predicted the mathematical possibility of black holes?
Quiz
What causes the accretion disk around a black hole to glow so brightly?
Quiz
What type of radiation is primarily emitted by the superheated matter in a black hole's accretion disk?
Quiz
What is the boundary around a black hole from which nothing can escape called?
hue The Reuleaux Heptagon
My diameter's a constant as I roll across the floor, So I slip right through the slot of the vending machine door
hue Cutting a circle's diameter exactly in half gives you the radius, the foundational measurement for drawing perfect curves.
Fun Fact
Circle's big line: The word diameter comes from the Greek 'diametros,' which translates to 'measuring through' a shape.
hue Dividing any circle's outer perimeter by its diameter always yields the magical mathematical constant known as pi.
Glossary
radius (noun)
A straight line from the center to the circumference of a circle or sphere. In 1570, John Dee translated Euclid's work, defining this line as half of the circle's diameter.
A straight line from the center to the circumference of a circle or sphere. In 1570, John Dee translated Euclid's work, defining this line as half of the circle's diameter.
Quiz
If you double the diameter of a circle, what happens to its circumference?
Quiz
Which of these shapes does NOT have a measurable diameter through its center?
Quiz
If a bicycle wheel has a diameter of 26 inches, what is its radius?
Quiz
What is the mathematical relationship between a circle's radius and its diameter?
Quiz
What did ancient Egyptian 'rope-stretchers' use knotted ropes to measure?
Quiz
Which ancient Greek mathematician officially defined the diameter in his famous book 'Elements' around 300 BCE?
Quiz
What do you get when you divide a circle's circumference by its diameter?
Glossary
black hole (noun)
A region of space with gravity so strong that it warps the space around it, pulling in anything that gets too close—even light. They can be any size, and once something crosses their outer boundary (the event horizon), it's gone forever. Think of it like a cosmic one-way street where even the fastest thing in the universe can't turn around.
A region of space with gravity so strong that it warps the space around it, pulling in anything that gets too close—even light. They can be any size, and once something crosses their outer boundary (the event horizon), it's gone forever. Think of it like a cosmic one-way street where even the fastest thing in the universe can't turn around.
