1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,600 Welcome back to Cosmos in a Pod. 2 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:02,400 Yeah. 3 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:04,320 You know, today we're diving deep, really deep 4 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:05,520 into something pretty wild. 5 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:06,320 Oh, yeah. 6 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:07,320 Neutron stars. 7 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:07,920 OK. 8 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:09,560 Ever thought about what happens when 9 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,000 a star way bigger than our sun just runs out of fuel 10 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,360 and kind of implodes? 11 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:17,640 Well, it's pretty intense. 12 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,280 We're talking about a star so massive, many times 13 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,520 the mass of our sun, and it collapses in on itself 14 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,360 with so much force that, get this, 15 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:27,680 it squeezes protons and electrons together. 16 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:28,440 Whoa. 17 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,040 Yeah, and they form this incredibly dense ball, 18 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:33,840 almost pure neutrons. 19 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:37,040 So all that stuff that makes up a giant star 20 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,320 gets crammed into a tiny space. 21 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:40,640 How tiny are we talking here? 22 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,480 Think of a city, like maybe the size of New York or London. 23 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:44,120 Wow, OK. 24 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,160 Yeah, that's how small a neutron star can be. 25 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:47,160 But here's the kicker. 26 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:47,640 Yeah. 27 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,360 This city-sized thing can weigh as much as our whole sun. 28 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:50,840 Hold on. 29 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,520 So a whole sun squeezed into Manhattan. 30 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:54,880 My brain's already hurting. 31 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,520 But wouldn't something that massive compress that much 32 00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:58,840 just keep collapsing? 33 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:00,440 Like into, I don't know, nothing. 34 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,240 That's where things get really interesting. 35 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,400 See, the collapse is dramatic, sure. 36 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,720 But there's this force fighting back against gravity. 37 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:08,200 Oh, really? 38 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:09,000 What's that? 39 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,080 It's called neutron degeneracy pressure. 40 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:12,600 OK. 41 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:14,640 It's this quantum mechanical effect. 42 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:16,960 And it basically stops neutrons from being 43 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:18,920 squeezed too close together. 44 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,200 So it's this like cosmic push and pull. 45 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,200 Gravity is trying to crush everything. 46 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,680 But then this neutron pressure is pushing back. 47 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:26,720 Exactly. 48 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,680 That battle, that's what creates a neutron star. 49 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,040 It's like the universe is saying, OK, gravity, 50 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,320 you can squeeze, but only so far. 51 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:37,360 So like a teaspoon of this neutron star stuff 52 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,680 would that weigh billions of tons, 53 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,640 like heavier than Mount Everest? 54 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:43,840 More like a billion Mount Everest 55 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:45,080 crammed into a teaspoon. 56 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:45,720 Jeez. 57 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:47,960 It's almost impossible to wrap your head around it. 58 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,400 The density and that density, that's 59 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,080 what leads to some pretty crazy physics. 60 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:53,440 OK, back up a sec. 61 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:55,240 You said these things, neutron stars, 62 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,400 they're born when these massive stars die. 63 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:57,920 Right. 64 00:01:57,920 --> 00:01:59,960 What actually happens during that? 65 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:01,920 Like walk me through a star's demise. 66 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:02,440 All right. 67 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,120 So picture a star much bigger than ours, right? 68 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,640 It's starting to run low on fuel. 69 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,080 The nuclear reactions that powered it, 70 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:11,400 they start to fizzle out. 71 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,200 And without that outward pressure, gravity, 72 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:15,160 gravity takes over. 73 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,640 So it's like letting the air out of a giant balloon. 74 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:19,000 Everything collapses inward. 75 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,040 More like detonating a cosmic bomb. 76 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,880 The core implodes, sends out the shock wave, 77 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,720 blasts the outer layers of the star into space. 78 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,280 And that's a supernova. 79 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:28,800 Wow. 80 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,080 Yeah, it's one of the most energetic events 81 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,960 in the universe, visible across huge distances. 82 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:34,800 That sounds dramatic. 83 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,240 So that's like the star's grand finale, right? 84 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,320 The supernova, scattering its remains everywhere. 85 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:41,640 In a way, yeah. 86 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:45,600 But amidst all that chaos, the star's core, it survives. 87 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:46,080 Really? 88 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,600 Yeah, crushed down to unbelievable densities 89 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:49,880 by that supernova force. 90 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,160 And that's what's left, a neutron star. 91 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,560 So it's like a phoenix, but instead of fire, 92 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,120 it's born from this collapsing star. 93 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:58,700 That's actually a pretty good analogy. 94 00:02:58,700 --> 00:02:59,680 It captures the essence. 95 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,800 This dense core, now a neutron star, 96 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,440 it's left spinning super fast, like a memory of the star 97 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:06,440 it used to be. 98 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:07,840 OK, it's starting to get it. 99 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,280 We have a big star, it runs out of fuel, core collapses, 100 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:11,640 boom supernova. 101 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:16,040 And from that explosion, this tiny, super dense neutron 102 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:16,560 star. 103 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:18,840 But you said it's not just a simple ball of neutrons, 104 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,000 like there's layers, right? 105 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,320 You got it, not just a giant ball of neutrons. 106 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,520 Neutron stars are, well, they're kind of like cosmic onions. 107 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:26,280 Uh-huh, OK. 108 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,640 Layers, each one weirder than the last. 109 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:29,800 I'm intrigued. 110 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:31,040 Peel back the layers for me. 111 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:32,200 What are we looking at here? 112 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,720 OK, imagine you could slice a neutron star in half. 113 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,120 Right on the surface, there's this outer crust, 114 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,800 incredibly dense, but still made of atomic nuclei and electrons, 115 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,800 like a super strong, super dense version of the Earth's crust. 116 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,640 So like a shell of super atoms. 117 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:49,640 And under that? 118 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:50,720 Deeper down. 119 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:51,920 Things get stranger. 120 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,160 Inner crust, it's this bizarre mix. 121 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,680 Free neutrons, nuclei, electrons all jammed together. 122 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,160 Doesn't exist on Earth, this state of matter. 123 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:01,400 Then there's the outer core. 124 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:02,760 OK, getting weirder by the layer. 125 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:03,800 What's going on in the outer core? 126 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:04,800 More neutrons. 127 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,160 It's thought to be this swirling sea of neutrons, protons, 128 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,760 and electrons, but not just any sea. 129 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,760 It's a super fluid, flows without any friction. 130 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:15,520 Hold on, super fluid? 131 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,200 Like if I poured a glass of this stuff, 132 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:18,600 it'd flow right through the glass. 133 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:20,480 More like it would flow through anything. 134 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,240 Walls, containers, you name it. 135 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,760 It's like gravity doesn't even work on this stuff. 136 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,280 Mind officially blown. 137 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:28,160 We're not done though, right? 138 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:29,720 There's still the inner core. 139 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:31,520 What's at the heart of a neutron star? 140 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:32,720 The inner core. 141 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:33,920 That's the real mystery. 142 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,960 We can't see it directly, so we got to rely on models and theories. 143 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:38,840 So what are the theories? 144 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:39,920 What could be down there? 145 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,720 Some scientists think it might be something 146 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,920 called quark-gluon plasma. 147 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,800 It's where the building blocks of protons and neutrons, 148 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:48,440 they break apart. 149 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,080 This stuff might have existed just moments after the Big Bang. 150 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:54,480 So matter from the beginning of the universe. 151 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:55,320 It's possible. 152 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:56,520 That's incredible. 153 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,400 And if it's not that, what else could it be? 154 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:02,440 Some think it could be something even more exotic, something 155 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,200 we haven't even thought of yet. 156 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,800 Matter so dense, so strange, it breaks the laws of physics 157 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:08,840 as we know them. 158 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:12,560 So neutron stars, they're not just leftovers from dead stars. 159 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,000 They're like windows into the biggest mysteries of the universe. 160 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,720 They are natural laboratories for extreme physics, 161 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,760 pushing the limits of what we know about matter, gravity, 162 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:23,960 and reality itself. 163 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:25,080 Wow. 164 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:26,960 I think we need a minute to process all that. 165 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:28,720 We're just getting started, though. 166 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:29,840 Stay tuned for part two. 167 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,760 We'll uncover even more about these crazy objects. 168 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,680 Back again for part two of our neutron star deep dive. 169 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,480 Last time we were talking about, well, the possibility 170 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,840 of a neutron star's core having matter from the very beginning 171 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:43,600 of the universe. 172 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:45,760 Yeah, it's a wild thought, isn't it? 173 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,520 And that's just one reason why these things are so fascinating. 174 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,080 They're not just dense, inert objects. 175 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,960 They're dynamic, energetic, and they influence everything 176 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:55,840 around them in crazy ways. 177 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,840 You mentioned something about insanely strong magnetic fields 178 00:05:58,840 --> 00:05:59,480 last time. 179 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,000 I'm picturing like a giant space magnet, 180 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,840 but I have a feeling that's not even close. 181 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:05,200 Oh, understatement of the century. 182 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,760 We're talking magnetic fields billions, even trillions 183 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:09,200 of times stronger than Earth's. 184 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:09,720 No way. 185 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:11,760 OK, how powerful are we talking, really? 186 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,080 Imagine a magnet so strong it could 187 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,320 rip the iron from your blood from thousands of miles away. 188 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:18,720 Whoa, that's intense. 189 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,080 Yeah, that's the kind of power we're dealing with. 190 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,920 These fields can warp spacetime, distort atoms, 191 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:27,360 unleash huge bursts of energy. 192 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:28,920 That is terrifyingly awesome. 193 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:29,420 Yeah. 194 00:06:29,420 --> 00:06:32,320 What even creates magnetic fields that strong? 195 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:33,760 Is it just the density? 196 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:35,360 It's a bit more complicated than that. 197 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,240 Remember how the core of a massive star 198 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,000 collapses during a supernova? 199 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:39,680 Yeah. 200 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,520 Well, as it shrinks, the magnetic field lines, 201 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,480 they get squeezed together, amplified like crazy. 202 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,080 Like compressing a spring, the tighter you squeeze, 203 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:49,560 the more energy you store. 204 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:51,240 So the star's death throes, they 205 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:53,800 fuel this insane magnetic field. 206 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,220 You could say that. 207 00:06:55,220 --> 00:06:58,320 It's the death of the star that births a neutron star 208 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,160 with a magnetic field unlike anything else out there. 209 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,000 And that magnetism, that's what leads 210 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,360 to some pretty crazy stuff. 211 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:05,200 Like what? 212 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:05,960 I'm all ears. 213 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,400 Well, it's responsible for those cosmic lighthouses 214 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:09,400 we call pulsars. 215 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,000 Remember we talked about how neutron stars spin really fast? 216 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,840 Yeah, star spinning hundreds of times a second. 217 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:16,120 Hard to forget that. 218 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,320 As it spins, the magnetic field channels these beams 219 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,000 of radiation out from the poles. 220 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,360 They sweep across space like, well, like a lighthouse beam. 221 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,080 And if Earth happens to be in the path, 222 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:32,480 we see these pulses, radio waves, X-rays, even gamma rays. 223 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,520 So the pulsing, it's not the star turning on and off. 224 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:37,560 It's just the beams sweeping past us 225 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,040 like a cosmic strobe light. 226 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:39,600 Exactly. 227 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:41,820 And the faster the spin, the faster the pulses. 228 00:07:41,820 --> 00:07:45,160 We've even found pulsars spinning over 700 times a second. 229 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,760 700 times a second sending out pulses 230 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,080 like a, what, like a cosmic machine gun? 231 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:50,920 You got it. 232 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:52,960 Are all neutron stars pulsars though? 233 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:53,800 Not necessarily. 234 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,160 Some, their beams might not point towards us, 235 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:57,560 so we never see the pulses. 236 00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:59,600 And some have weaker fields, so they don't make 237 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:01,480 those strong, focused beams. 238 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,600 There could be a ton of them out there we haven't even 239 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:04,120 found yet. 240 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:04,760 Absolutely. 241 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,760 We've only just started to discover these things. 242 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:08,920 There could be billions in our galaxy alone. 243 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:09,760 Wow. 244 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,760 You also mentioned something called X-ray binaries, 245 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:12,680 remind me what those are. 246 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:13,160 Sure. 247 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,120 Remember the crazy strong gravity of neutron stars? 248 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,960 Yeah, the iron ripping from your blood kind of gravity. 249 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:19,460 Right. 250 00:08:19,460 --> 00:08:23,240 So imagine a neutron star orbiting another star. 251 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,760 That gravity, it pulls material off the other star, 252 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,600 creates a swirling disk of gas around the neutron star. 253 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,720 Like a cosmic vampire sucking the life out of its neighbor. 254 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,880 Dramatic, but yeah, kind of. 255 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,080 As this material spirals in, it heats up 256 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:43,800 to millions of degrees, and it emits intense X-rays. 257 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:45,080 That's an X-ray binary. 258 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,800 They're some of the brightest X-ray sources we can see. 259 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:50,400 So the neutron star, it's using its gravity 260 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,120 to power this X-ray cannon. 261 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:53,240 That's a good way to put it. 262 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:55,520 We can detect these blasts across the galaxy. 263 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,760 It's crazy how these dense little things 264 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,280 can have such huge effects. 265 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,520 They spin, they pulse, they shoot out X-rays. 266 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:02,400 What can't they do? 267 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:03,200 And that's not even all. 268 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,040 They also help us understand some of the biggest 269 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:06,040 questions in physics. 270 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:06,740 OK, tell me more. 271 00:09:06,740 --> 00:09:07,580 I love this stuff. 272 00:09:07,580 --> 00:09:09,400 Their extreme density, it lets us 273 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:11,280 study how matter acts under conditions 274 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:12,880 we could never create here. 275 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,880 Like a natural lab for nuclear physics and quantum mechanics. 276 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,600 So they're helping us figure out the nature of matter itself. 277 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:19,720 Exactly. 278 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,240 A window into the fundamental building blocks of everything. 279 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,160 And because of their strong gravity, 280 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,960 they're also perfect for testing Einstein's theory 281 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:29,040 of relativity. 282 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:30,840 You mentioned gravitational waves earlier. 283 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:31,600 How do those fit in? 284 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,360 Gravitational waves, they're ripples in spacetime caused 285 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,160 by, well, massive objects accelerating. 286 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,560 And when two neutron stars collide, 287 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:41,160 What happens? 288 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,080 They create some of the most powerful gravitational waves 289 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:44,960 in the universe. 290 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:46,080 We can detect that here. 291 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:46,920 Yes. 292 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,640 We have these super sensitive instruments called gravitational 293 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:50,880 wave detectors. 294 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,560 They measure tiny distortions in spacetime. 295 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:57,280 And in 2017, we detected waves from a neutron star merger 296 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:58,400 for the first time. 297 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,040 Huge moment for science. 298 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:00,840 I remember that. 299 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:01,560 Big news. 300 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:02,720 What did we learn from that? 301 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,240 Well, it confirmed Einstein's theory even further. 302 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,240 It showed us how heavy elements like gold and platinum 303 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:09,040 are made. 304 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,560 And it helped us measure the expansion of the universe 305 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:12,640 more accurately. 306 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,800 So the gold in my ring, it was probably 307 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,880 made when two stars crashed billions of years ago. 308 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,160 It's pretty mind blowing, right? 309 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,960 The elements that make up everything, us, our planet, 310 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,240 everything we see, they came from stars and these neutron 311 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:27,360 star collisions. 312 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,240 It makes you feel connected to it all in a way. 313 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:29,760 Yeah. 314 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:31,120 We're all stardust. 315 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:32,640 And studying neutron stars helps us 316 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,800 understand that connection, how we fit into this big cosmic 317 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,080 story. 318 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:38,560 That's awesome. 319 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:42,480 Do you have any favorite examples of neutron stars 320 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,800 or exciting discoveries? 321 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:45,760 So many. 322 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,000 But the Crab Pulsar is definitely up there. 323 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:48,920 The Crab Pulsar. 324 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:50,080 What's special about that one? 325 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:51,720 It's beautiful, for one thing. 326 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,040 It's in the Crab Nebula, which is this incredible supernova 327 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:55,920 remnant. 328 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,120 Chinese astronomers saw the explosion back in 1054 AD. 329 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:01,880 We've known about this thing for 1,000 years. 330 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:02,720 Pretty cool, right? 331 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:06,120 And the pulsar itself, it spins about 30 times per second. 332 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,000 We can see its pulses across the entire electromagnetic 333 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:09,880 spectrum. 334 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:11,680 Radio waves to gamma rays. 335 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:12,880 Like a cosmic disco ball. 336 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:13,960 Uh-huh, yeah. 337 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,600 Studying it has taught us a lot about how pulsars work, 338 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:18,440 their magnetic fields, how they interact 339 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:19,640 with their surroundings. 340 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,460 It's amazing how we can see these things so far away 341 00:11:22,460 --> 00:11:23,920 and learn so much. 342 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,920 Shows you the power of science and how curious we are as 343 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:27,640 humans. 344 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:29,200 Absolutely. 345 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaking of discoveries, what about the fastest known 346 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:32,920 pulsar? 347 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:34,200 OK, now I'm really interested. 348 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:35,000 How fast? 349 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,560 This one's spinning over 700 times per second. 350 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:38,760 700? 351 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:39,560 That's insane. 352 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:40,760 I can't even imagine. 353 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,840 It really pushes the limits of what we thought was possible. 354 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,520 Helps us refine our models of neutron stars, 355 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:48,760 how they're structured, how stable they are. 356 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,840 Every discovery opens up new questions, 357 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:52,760 challenges what we know. 358 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,680 But there are still so many mysteries about neutron stars. 359 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,560 What are scientists still trying to figure out? 360 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:02,320 One of the biggest is what the inner core is made of. 361 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,600 We know it's dense, but not the exact kind of matter. 362 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:07,600 You mentioned quark gluon plasma before. 363 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,600 Yeah, that's a possibility. 364 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,840 Quarks and gluons, the stuff that makes up protons 365 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,040 and neutrons, are no longer bound together. 366 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:15,880 It probably existed right after the Big Bang, 367 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,520 and maybe it exists in the cores of neutron stars. 368 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:20,920 So we could be looking back at the beginning of time 369 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:22,360 by studying these things. 370 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:23,200 Exactly. 371 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:25,840 Another question is, what causes those massive bursts 372 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:27,720 of energy we see from magnetars? 373 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,200 The ones that outshine entire galaxies for a moment. 374 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:31,240 Yeah. 375 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:34,360 We think it's got to do with their super strong magnetic 376 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,320 fields, but we don't know the exact mechanism. 377 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,000 Sounds like neutron stars are full of surprises. 378 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,520 Any other mysteries that you think are really interesting? 379 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:46,600 One that's always fascinated me is how a neutron star tips 380 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,400 over and becomes a black hole. 381 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:50,600 What's the mass limit? 382 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:51,840 What happens at that point? 383 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:53,760 It's like a cosmic cliffhanger. 384 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:54,440 Right. 385 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,560 These are just a few of the mysteries that keep us 386 00:12:56,560 --> 00:12:58,160 astrophysicists up at night. 387 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,440 They're like cosmic puzzles, each piece bringing us closer 388 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:03,600 to understanding the big picture. 389 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:05,920 It's been amazing, this journey into the world 390 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:07,240 of neutron stars. 391 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,480 We've learned about their formation, how they're built, 392 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,160 their crazy properties, how they help us understand 393 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:13,320 the universe. 394 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,880 And it sounds like we're just getting started. 395 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:17,160 Welcome back. 396 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,080 Final part of a neutron star deep dive. 397 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,680 It's been a wild ride exploring these objects that just break 398 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:25,400 the laws of physics as we know them. 399 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,480 It has been quite a journey, from their violent beginnings 400 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,600 to, well, everything we talked about, the time keeping, 401 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:33,080 the gravitational waves. 402 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,520 It's all a glimpse into the most extreme places 403 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:37,440 in the universe. 404 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,840 Yeah, and like we said, they're not just fascinating 405 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:40,720 on their own. 406 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:45,280 They're tools helping us figure out the secrets of matter, 407 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,040 gravity, how the whole universe evolved. 408 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:48,680 Exactly. 409 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:50,560 They're cosmic laboratories letting 410 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:52,320 us study physics under conditions 411 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,200 we could never dream of replicating here. 412 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,600 So before we finish up, what are your final thoughts 413 00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:58,160 on these things? 414 00:13:58,160 --> 00:13:59,560 Neutron stars. 415 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,720 Why should we down here on Earth care 416 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,240 about these distant, crazy objects? 417 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:05,160 It's a good question. 418 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,040 And I think the answer is all about how connected 419 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:08,240 the universe is. 420 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,920 Neutron stars might seem remote and alien, 421 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:12,800 but they're tied to our very existence. 422 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:13,400 Really? 423 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,720 How do they relate to us down here? 424 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,440 Remember how we talked about neutron star mergers creating 425 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:19,520 those heavy elements? 426 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:20,720 Gold, platinum? 427 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:22,160 Yeah, still can't get over that. 428 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,480 My jewelry forged from stars colliding billions of years ago. 429 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:26,640 It's not just jewelry, though. 430 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,680 Those elements, they're scattered everywhere. 431 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,360 They become part of planets, stars, even life. 432 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:32,760 So we're made of star dust. 433 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,360 And a good chunk of that star dust 434 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:36,000 came from neutron star collisions. 435 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:37,120 That's the idea. 436 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,720 The calcium in your bones, the iron in your blood, 437 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,440 all created in stars and those fiery neutron star mergers. 438 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,080 Wow, that's humbling in a way. 439 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:46,640 It is. 440 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,080 We're connected to these events, carrying 441 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,200 the remnants of stars that lived and died long ago. 442 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,880 And by studying them, we're not just learning about them, 443 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:57,040 but about ourselves, our origins, 444 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:58,200 our place in the universe. 445 00:14:58,200 --> 00:14:58,960 Exactly. 446 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,040 It reminds us that we're part of something so much bigger, 447 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,680 a cosmic story that unfolds over billions of years 448 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:07,400 across these huge distances. 449 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,840 Yeah, and a story that's still being written. 450 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,120 With every new observation, every new technology, 451 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,560 we're understanding neutron stars better, 452 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,240 their role in how the universe changes and evolves. 453 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:19,840 And there's so much more to learn. 454 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:21,920 We barely scratched the surface. 455 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,680 What are their cores really made of? 456 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,600 What causes those magnetar bursts? 457 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,200 What's the tipping point between a neutron star and a black hole? 458 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:30,800 We're still figuring it out. 459 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,560 It's exciting to think about what we might discover next. 460 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,680 That's the beauty of science, a constant journey, 461 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,680 exploring and discovering. 462 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,720 And neutron stars, they're some of the most intriguing guides 463 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:42,440 we have. 464 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,080 I think we've covered a lot in this deep dive, how they form, 465 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,280 their structure, those mind blowing properties, 466 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,200 the different types, how they help us as tools. 467 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:52,400 So much to explore. 468 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:54,560 And hopefully we've inspired our listeners 469 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:58,440 to look up at the night sky with a sense of wonder 470 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,920 and appreciation for these incredible objects out there, 471 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,760 spinning, pulsing, making us question 472 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:06,120 everything we thought we knew. 473 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:06,600 Definitely. 474 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,240 It's been a fantastic journey. 475 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,400 Thanks for being our guide through the world of neutron 476 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:10,880 stars. 477 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:11,760 My pleasure. 478 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:13,960 And remember, the universe is full of wonders. 479 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:15,960 Keep exploring, keep asking questions, 480 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:16,920 never stop learning. 481 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,040 Couldn't have said it better myself. 482 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:20,960 Follow and subscribe to Cosmos in a pod 483 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:44,840 for more fascinating insights into space and science.