Observational Prospects for Stars with Degenerate Neutron Cores

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

A massive star with a degenerate neutron core would be a red supergiant with the following peculiar features: The star is convective from near the photosphere down to the base of the envelope just outside the degenerate core (radius 10 km). The star's luminosity comes from the rp-process in a convective burning region within 100 km of the base of the envelope. The convection brings fuel for the rp-process into the burning region from throughout the envelope and deposits the products of rp-burning back into the envelope, including the photosphere. After about 10(5) years, the abundances of Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd, and Ag at the surface of the star will be about 1000 times greater than their solar abundances. A suitable observational signature would be the strong enhancement of absorption lines for these elements in the star's spectrum. As many as 10 of the nearest 400 red supergiant's (those within 5 kpc) could have neutron cores. This research was funded in part by NSF grants AST-8817792 and AST-9114925.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Observational Prospects for Stars with Degenerate Neutron Cores does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Observational Prospects for Stars with Degenerate Neutron Cores, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Observational Prospects for Stars with Degenerate Neutron Cores will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1111040

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.