Artist's Impression of a Neutron Star Partially Devouring a Massive Clump of Matter (IMAGE)

European Space Agency

Artist's Impression of a Neutron Star Partially Devouring a Massive Clump of Matter

Caption

This animated sequence of images illustrates the partial ingestion of a clump of matter by the neutron star hosted in the Supergiant Fast X-Ray Transient, IGR J18410-0535. The ingestion of the clump material produced a dramatic increase in the X-rays released by the neutron star, which was detected with XMM-Newton. The peak in the X-ray luminosity corresponds to the period when the accretion rate was at its maximum.

Credit

ESA/AOES Medialab

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