Neutron Star Winds: A New Discovery in Astrophysics

Astronomers have used an X-ray spacecraft called XRISM to observe strong winds emanating from a neutron star, a discovery that could significantly advance our understanding of physics. This finding reveals unexpected differences between the active winds emitted from the accretion disks around extreme dead stars, or neutron stars, and the winds flowing from the accretion disks feeding supermassive black holes at the centers of large galaxies.

Cosmic Winds and Their Significance

The team of scientists discovered these striking differences between the accretion disks of supermassive black holes and those surrounding neutron stars using NASA and JAXA’s XRISM spacecraft. The Resolve instrument on XRISM was able to measure the energy of light emitted by the system GX13+1, located between 23,000 and 26,000 light-years from Earth in the galactic bulge of the Milky Way.

By analyzing this data, the team was able to gather unprecedented details about the system, providing them with a deeper understanding of the physics surrounding the flow of matter into and out of the disks. This understanding could reveal how these winds impact the cosmic environments around supermassive black holes.

Surprises from Neutron Star GX13+1

Before the observations began, the neutron star GX13+1 surprised the team by glowing intensely, leading scientists to believe it might have reached or exceeded the Eddington limit, the theoretical limit of the amount of matter that can accumulate on a compact object like a neutron star or black hole.

When this limit is reached, the emitted energy is so great that surrounding matter is pushed away as cosmic winds. The XRISM team closely monitored this exciting event.

Differences Between Neutron Star and Black Hole Winds

The mysterious winds from GX13+1 differ from those observed near supermassive black holes, being relatively slow and smooth in their flow, unlike the typically clumpy winds seen elsewhere. Scientists believe these differences may be due to temperature variations between the disks surrounding neutron stars and those around black holes.

The disks around black holes are larger and brighter, meaning their energy is spread over a wider area, resulting in ultraviolet light emission, while the electromagnetic radiation from disks around neutron stars is in the form of higher-energy X-rays.

Conclusion

This research could reshape our understanding of how radiation and matter interact around some of the most extreme objects in the universe, and how they transfer energy to their wider surroundings, influencing galaxy evolution. The team’s findings could also help guide future space telescopes like NewAthena, a European Space Agency mission set to launch in 2037, which will be the largest X-ray observatory ever built.