BBC Science Focus

Could you walk on a neutron star?

- ELLIOT WEBB, ASHFORD AGu

No. A neutron star has such an intense gravitatio­nal field and high temperatur­e that you could not survive a close encounter of any kind. First of all, just getting onto the surface of the neutron star would be problemati­c. Its gravitatio­nal pull would accelerate you so much you would smash into it at a good fraction of the speed of light. Even before you arrived, the difference in gravitatio­nal pull between your head and feet would already have ripped your constituen­t atoms apart. Once there, though, your atomic nuclei and their free electrons would impact the surface with sufficient energy to spark thermonucl­ear reactions close to the super-dense surface. You would become a puff of gamma rays and X-rays, as your light elements were transforme­d into a cloud of heavy elements, neutrons and ultra-relativist­ic electrons. Even if you were somehow magically transporte­d onto the neutron star, therefore avoiding this energetic impact, the million-degree temperatur­es at the surface would vaporise (and ionise) you immediatel­y. The intense gravity would then flatten what was left of you as you merged into the super-dense crust of the neutron star. Under these circumstan­ces, taking a leisurely walk would be extremely difficult!

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