In this episode, the journey goes to the center of a neutron star, the weirdest place in the modern universe. The neutron star's magnetosphere is the strongest magnetic field in the universe, filled with electron-positron pairs. The neutron star's crust contains exotic states of matter, with nuclear pasta and lasagna. As the journey goes deeper into the neutron star, the matter becomes weirder, with fermions becoming bosons, forming a superfluid and a superconductor. Eventually, the matter may dissolve completely into a quark gluon plasma. The neutron star may accrete matter from a binary partner star, and at some point, it may form an inescapable event horizon and become an actual black hole.
1. The neutron star is the weirdest place in the modern universe.
2. Neutron stars are formed from the dead cores of massive stars after supernova explosions.
3. The magnetosphere of a neutron star is the strongest magnetic field in the universe.
4. Neutron stars have a plasma atmosphere of mostly hydrogen and helium.
5. The matter at the surface of a neutron star is mostly iron in the form of a frozen plasma, arranged in a regular lattice.
6. The neutron star has an outer crust, inner crust, pasta layer, and core.
7. Nuclei in the pasta layer rearrange to form exotic shapes, such as spaghetti or lasagna.
8. Nuclear pasta is the strongest material in the universe.
9. The core of a neutron star has the most extreme conditions in the modern universe and may contain superfluids, superconductors, and 'strange quarks'.
10. The neutron star may accrete matter from a binary partner star and eventually transform into a black hole.