Advertisement

Researchers develop new method for weighing stars

Using a new understanding of fluidynamics inside a pulsar, researchers have built a math formula to predict a star's mass.

By Brooks Hays
Telescopes can capture the "pulse" of a pulsar -- a type of dead star -- using is high-energy X-ray vision. Now researchers at the University of Southampton can use that data to determine the star's mass. Photo by UPI/NASA/JPL-Caltech
Telescopes can capture the "pulse" of a pulsar -- a type of dead star -- using is high-energy X-ray vision. Now researchers at the University of Southampton can use that data to determine the star's mass. Photo by UPI/NASA/JPL-Caltech

SOUTHAMPTON, England, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Typically, astronomers study the kinetic relationships between and among planetary bodies to gauge the gravitational pull of a celestial body, and thus, measure its mass.

But in analyzing pulsars -- pairs of rotating neutron stars left in the wake of a supernova -- researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a new way determine a star's mass.

Advertisement

Mature pulsars feature a stable rate of rotation, their rotating beam of electromagnetic radiation marks their orbit like a clock hand. Young pulsars, however, often feature a glitch or arrhythmia. This skipped beat afforded scientists a breakthrough, but offering clues as to the inner workings of a pulsar.

"Imagine the pulsar as a bowl of soup, with the bowl spinning at one speed and the soup spinning faster," researcher Nils Andersson, a professor of applied mathematics at Southampton, explained in a press release. "Friction between the inside of the bowl and its contents, the soup, will cause the bowl to speed up. The more soup there is, the faster the bowl will be made to rotate."

Using this new understanding of fluidynamics inside a pulsar -- and armed with new radio and X-ray data -- Andersson and his colleagues built a mathematical model that predicts a star's mass based on the magnitude and frequency of its glitches.

Advertisement

The scientists detailed their star-weighing math in the journal Science Advances.

"Our results provide an exciting new link between the study of distant astronomical objects and laboratory work in both high-energy and low-temperature physics," added Andersson. "It is a great example of interdisciplinary science."

Latest Headlines