X-ray oscillations yield clues to neutron star composition

17 Jun 2002

The discovery of the most rapid X-ray oscillations ever detected from space may provide important clues about the size and composition of neutron stars, according to an astrophysicist at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Researchers recently reported finding an X-ray source that oscillates at 800 cycles per second or more and found that another oscillates at more than 1,100 cycles per second.

"What is important to me is that we're looking at things that happen very close to the surface of a neutron star," said Dr. Jan van Paradijs, is a member of an international team analyzing data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, a scientific satellite launched in late December 1995. Paradijs hopes his observations may help more precisely determine the radius of a neuron star and the matter that comprises it.