Neutron stars are fascinating objects. They're formed in a supernova explosion at the end of a star's life: what is left after the explosion is a tiny, incredibly dense star.

They have a mass a little more than that of our Sun, yet are crammed into a sphere only about 20 to 30 km across. This makes the very centers of neutron stars more dense than atomic nuclei – the equivalent of cramming the world's entire human population into a sugar cube!

In this talk, Wayne State Astronomer Dr. Edward Cackett will discuss how we use neutron stars to try and understand what happens to matter under such extreme conditions.

When

Friday, March 2, 2012 at 7 p.m.