An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A → neutron star in a → binary system that accretes matter from the → campion star, either from the → stellar wind or from an → accretion disk that forms if the companion overflows its → Roche lobe. The → gravitational energy from the infalling matter provides at least part of the energy for the observed radiation and the accretion torques dominate the spin evolution. Despite these common properties, accreting → neutron stars display a wide variety of behaviors, depending on the neutron star → magnetic field strength, mass of the companion and properties of → accretion (A. K. Harding, 2013, Front. Phys. 8, 679).

→ accreting; → neutron; → star.

The → antiparticle of the → neutron. It has the same mass, → spin, and → electric charge (zero) as the neutron but has opposite → baryon number (+1 for neutron, -1 for the antineutron). This is because the antineutron is composed of → antiquarks, while neutrons are composed of → quarks. The antineutron consists of one up antiquark and two down antiquarks.

→ anti-; → neutron.

Neutrons resulting from nuclear fission which are emitted with a measurable time delay. Delayed neutrons are responsible for the ability to control the rate at which power can rise in a reactor. → prompt neutrons.

Delayed, p.p. of the verbal form of → delay; → neutron.

A → neutron star which does not belong to a → binary system, does not have radio emission, and is not surrounded by a progenitor → supernova remnant. INSs appear to be thermally cooling with no emission outside the → soft X-ray band, except for faint optical/UV counterparts. Although these properties are similar to those of → compact central object (CCO)s, they are a distinct class because they lack any observable associated supernova remnant or nebula. There are presently seven confirmed INSs (sometimes referred to as The Magnificent Seven), six of which have measured weakly modulated X-ray pulsations with periods between 3 s and 11 s, much longer than those of CCOs (A. K. Harding, 2013, Front. Phys. 8, 679).

→ isolated; → neutron; → star.

An uncharged → subatomic particle found in the nucleus of every → atom heavier than → hydrogen. It has a → rest mass of 1.67492 x 10^-24 g, 939.566 → MeV, slightly greater than that of the → proton. The neutron is composed of three → quarks (two down and one up). Although the neutron is electrically neutral, it owns a → spin of 1/2 and a → magnetic moment; it can therefore interact magnetically with matter. A free neutron is unstable and disintegrates by → beta decay to a proton, an → electron, and → antineutrino of the electron type: n→ p + e^- + ν^__e + 0.7823 MeV. Its → mean life is about 15 minutes. The decay of the neutron is associated with a → quark transformation in which a down quark is converted to an up by the → weak interaction.

From neutro-, a combining form representing → neutral, + → -on a suffix used in the names of → subatomic particles.

The → nuclear reaction that occurs when an → atomic nucleus captures a → neutron. Neutron capture is the primary mechanism (principally, the → s-process and → r-process) by which very massive nuclei are formed in stars and during → supernova explosions. Instead of → fusion of similar nuclei, heavy, → neutron-capture elements are created by the addition of more and more neutrons to existing nuclei.

→ neutron; → capture.

The state of degeneracy created when the density of matter is so high that neutrons cannot be packed any more closely together. This condition occurs in the core of stars above 1.44 solar masses (→ Chandrasekhar limit) where under the gravitational collapse electrons and protons are forced to combine into neutrons. Therefore, in a → neutron star all the lowest neutron energy levels are filled and the neutrons are forced into higher and higher energy levels, since according to Pauli Exclusion Principle no two neutrons (fermions) can occupy identical states. This creates an effective pressure which prevents further gravitational collapse. However, for masses greater than 3 solar masses, even neutron degeneracy cannot prevent further collapse and it continues toward the black hole state.

→ neutron; → degeneracy.

A type of radioactive decay of atoms containing excess neutrons, in which a neutron is ejected from the nucleus.

→ neutron; → emission.

The excess of → neutrons over → protons in an → atomic nucleus: η = (N_n - N_p) / (N_n + N_p).

→ neutron; → excess.

An extremely compact ball of matter created from the central core of a star that has collapsed under gravity to such an extent that it consists almost entirely of → neutrons. Neutron stars result from two possible evolutionary scenarios: 1) The → collapse of a → massive star during a → supernova explosion; and 2) The accumulation of mass by a → white dwarf in a → binary system. The mass of a neutron star is the same as or larger than the → Chandrasekhar limit (1.4 → solar masses). Neutron stars are only about 10 km across and have a density of 10¹⁴ g cm^-3, representing the densest objects having a visible surface. The structure of neutron stars consists of a thin outer crust of about 1 km thickness composed of → degenerate electrons and nuclei, which becomes progressively neutron rich with increasing depth and pressure due to → inverse beta decays. In the main body the matter consists of → superfluid neutrons in equilibrium with their decay products, a few percent protons and electrons. Neutron stars have extremely strong magnetic fields, from 3 x 10¹⁰ to 10¹⁵ gauss. As of 2010 more than 2000 neutron stars have been catalogued, which show a large variety of manifestations, mainly → pulsars.

→ neutron; → star.

A → binary system composed of two → neutron stars.

→ neutron; → star; → binary; → system.

A → nucleosynthesis process responsible for the generation of the → chemical elements heavier than the → iron peak elements. There are two possibilities for → neutron capture: the slow neutron-capture process (the → s-process) and the rapid neutron-capture process (the → r-process). The s-process is further divided into two categories: the weak s-component and the main s-component. Massive stars are sites of the weak component of s-process nucleosynthesis, which is mainly responsible for the production of lighter neutron-capture elements (e.g. Sr, Y, and Zr). The s-process contribution to heavier neutron-capture elements (heavier than Ba) is due only to the main s-component. The low- to intermediate-mass stars (about 1.3-8 Msun) in the → asymptotic giant branch (AGB) are usually considered to be sites in which the main s-process occur. There is abundant evidence suggesting that → Type II supernova (SNe II) are sites for the synthesis of the r-process nuclei, although this has not yet been fully confirmed. The observations and analysis on → very metal-poor stars imply that the stars with [Fe/H] ≤ -2.5 might form from gas clouds polluted by a few supernovae (SNe). Therefore, the abundances of → heavy elements in → metal-poor stars have been used to learn about the nature of the nucleosynthetic processes in the early Galaxy (See, e.g., H. Li et al., 2013, arXiv:1301.6097).

→ neutron;→ capture; → element.

The reaction that transforms a → proton into a → neutron when a proton and an → electron are forced together to make a neutron: p + e^-→ n + ν^__e. In astronomy, this process occurs during the → core collapse of → massive stars which leads to the formation of → neutron stars.

→ neutron; → -ize; → -tion.

Neutrons emitted immediately by a nucleus undergoing fission, as opposed to → delayed neutrons, which are emitted by one of the fission products an appreciable time interval after the fission event (from a few milliseconds to a few minutes).

→ prompt; → neutron.

A compact, hot, and → neutrino-rich object that results from a → supernova explosion and is a transition between an → iron core and a → neutron star or → black hole. The life span of a protoneutron star is less than one minute.

→ proto-; → neutron; → star.

A neutron with an energy between 1 eV and 0.01 MeV.

→ resonance; → region; → neutron.

A neutron whose kinetic energy does not exceed about 10 electron-volts. Also called → thermal neutron.

→ slow; → neutron.

A → neutron star of mass above the typical value that is temporarily prevented from → collapseing into a → black hole because of its rapid → rotation.

→ supermassive; → neutron; → star.

A neutron of very slow speed and consequently of low energy. The energy of thermal neutrons is of the same order as the → thermal energy of the atoms and molecules of the substance through which they are passing.

→ thermal; → neutron.

A member of a class of isolated, radio-silent → pulsars with peculiar properties. They show a purely thermal spectrum at X-ray energies with no evidence for a high-energy, power-law component often detected in other → isolated neutron star classes. The X-ray luminosity is 10³¹ - 10³² erg s^-1, fully consistent with surface blackbody emission with temperatures ~ 40-100 eV and (radiation) radii of a few kilometers, as derived from X-ray spectral fits. With the only exception of RX J1856.5-3754, broad absorption features have been found in all XDINSs. These features have energies ~ 300 - 700 eV, equivalent widths of ~ 50 - 150 eV and, as in the case of RX J0720.4-3125, may be variable.

→ X-ray; → dim; → isolated; → neutron; → star.