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Neutron stars are among the densest objects in the universe from "summary" of The Science of Interstellar by Kip Thorne
Neutron stars are truly remarkable celestial objects, possessing a density that is almost beyond comprehension. Imagine cramming the entire mass of the sun into a sphere with a diameter of just a dozen miles. That is the kind of extreme density we are talking about when it comes to neutron stars. The gravitational pull in these compact stellar remnants is so intense that a single teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh billions of tons on Earth. To put things into perspective, neutron stars are denser than any substance we can find on our planet. Even the densest materials on Earth, such as lead or uranium, pale in comparison to the mind-boggling density of a neutron star. This incredible density is a result of the collapse of a massive star during a supernova explosion, leaving behind only the core composed mostly of neutrons. The intense gravitational forces at work in neutron stars give rise to some truly bizarre phenomena. For instance, the surface of a neutron star is incredibly smooth, with mountains no taller than a fraction of a millimeter. This is due to the immense gravitational forces flattening out any irregularities on the surface. Additionally, the outer layers of a neutron star are so tightly packed that they behave more like a solid than a liquid, despite being composed of incredibly dense nuclear material. The sheer density of neutron stars also has profound implications for the fabric of spacetime around them. These objects are so dense that they warp spacetime in their vicinity, creating gravitational fields that are stronger than anything we can experience on Earth. In fact, neutron stars are so dense that they can even cause light to bend around them, a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing.- Neutron stars are truly some of the most extreme objects in the universe, both in terms of their density and the gravitational forces they exhibit. These compact remnants of massive stars serve as a testament to the incredible forces at work in our cosmos, pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the nature of matter and the universe itself.
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