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neutron
An atomic particle having high mass but no electrical charge.

Neutrons are present in the nuclei of all atoms except hydrogen.

This entry is located in the following unit: Astronomy and related astronomical terms (page 17)
Word Entries containing the term: “neutron”
neutron star
1. The result of the collapse of the remnant from a supernova explosion if its mass exceeds the chandrasekhar limit, but is less than that required for gravity to continue the collapse down to a black hole.

The chandrasekhar limit is the upper limit for the mass of a white dwarf star beyond which the star collapses to a neutron star or a black hole. A star having a mass above this limit will continue to collapse to form a neutron star.

Its name derives from the fact that the object is so condensed that most of its material is in the form of neutrons.

Named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995), a U.S. astrophysicist.

2. A very small core of a super-dense star composed mostly of neutrons (electrically neutral subatomic particles in the baryon family).

Neutron stars are estimated to be so condensed that a fragment the size of a sugar cube would weigh as much as all the people on the earth put together.

—As seen in the Scientific American Science Desk Reference;
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; New York; 1999; page 169.
This entry is located in the following unit: Astronomy and related astronomical terms (page 17)