Neutron stars are the densest objects in the universe from "summary" of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neutron stars are the densest objects in the universe. Imagine taking the entire mass of the Sun and squeezing it into a sphere the size of a city. That's what a neutron star is - a stellar remnant so compact that a single teaspoon of its material would weigh billions of tons. When a massive star exhausts its nuclear fuel, it can no longer support its own weight against gravity. The star collapses under its own gravity, compressing its atoms into a state where electrons merge with protons to form neutrons. The result is a neutron star - a tiny, incredibly dense object made almost entirely of neutrons. Neutron stars are born in the violent aftermath of a supernova explosion, where a massive star's outer layers are blown away, leaving behind a dense core. These remnants are typically only about 12 miles in diameter, yet they can contain more mass than the Sun. This extreme density gives neutron stars some remarkable properties. On...
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