I'm taking an astronomy class and this was a question on our study guide. I've searched the book and can't find a real answer for this and I don't quite understand. They have more mass, so according to the mass-luminosity relationship, shouldn't they be more luminous than what they actually are? Please help, I'm confused. Thanks!
2007-04-23 11:38:35 · 8 answers · asked by seventhyearfalling 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The mass-luminosity relation only applies to main sequence stars. A neutron star is a a star that has long since burnt all available hydrogen and left the main sequence.
I don't beleive neutron stars are significantly more massive than most stars, there are much more dense as thet are very very small. There are several formalae for describing luminosity, if I remember correctly:
luminosity = const * radius^2 * temp^4
So, if the temp is not much more than a star, but the radius is much much less (which it is) ... then the luminosity will decrease.
2007-04-23 11:52:58 · answer #1 · answered by TheUKDave 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are really tiny compared to a real star.
Neutron stars are dead stellar corpses similar to white dwarfs. Neutron stars are more massive. There is no fusion going on just the final gravitational heat radiating off. They may have a temperature of 1 million degrees K but they are also very very small. As you know the bigger a star is the more luminous it is. Neutron stars are about 20 km in diameter. Compare that with a red supergiant like Betelgeuse...
2007-04-23 12:00:44 · answer #2 · answered by DrAnders_pHd 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A 2.5 solar mass neutron star is only about 12 km in diameter.
They would appear dim simply because of their small size,even though the surface temperature is over a million degrees C
2007-04-24 04:52:32 · answer #3 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neutron stars are quite small compared to regular stars. They are essentially "spent" stars, there's no more juice left. The only reason we see them is because they are still cooling. Eventually they will fade beyond our ability to detect them. I think when you refer to the star having more mass, you mean a high density. They are lots more dense that a regular star, but lots smaller.
The other people above at the top have a more sophisticated and accurate answer.
2007-04-23 12:53:46 · answer #4 · answered by star2_watch 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it somewhat is a. white dwarfs at the instant are not very luminous for the comparable reason, regardless of the reality that they don't seem to be as compact. in case you have been to place neutron stars on the herzprung-russel diagram, they may be warmer and much less luminous than white dwarfs.
2016-12-10 09:40:29 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most stars are luminous because of the nuclear fusion process going on in their cores. Nuclear fusion doesn't occur in neutron stars; they're just extremely small, super dense blobs of neutrons. Neutrons don't generate light.
2007-04-23 13:20:12 · answer #6 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Neutron stars can be thought of as ashes. There's nothing left to fuse so they have no luminosity. The only way we detect them is when they rotate and their strong magnetic fields cause the gases around them to give off energy.
2007-04-23 11:56:58 · answer #7 · answered by Gene 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They may be more massive, but its all compressed into a tiny ball no larger than the earth. They are so dim because they're so small.
2007-04-23 13:54:08 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋