Neutron Stars Rip Each Other Apart to Form Black Hole|NASA Goddard Photo and Video|CC BY 2.0
A team of astronomers and researchers led by the University of Southampton have discovered evidence for the first time that powerful hot winds are released when a neutron star consumes matter from a nearby star. The hot winds originated from a low-mass X-ray binary system, or LMXB, consisting of a neutron star and a black hole. They obtain their fuel by accretion, the term for a star that devours material from a close neighbor. Typically, the systems become significantly brighter in ways that scientists can observe closely when this occurs. Scientists had, until now, only seen instances of the release of “warm” gases—the current discovery is the first time they have observed both “hot” and “cold” gas emanating from this type of system.
