How Big Are the Mountains on a Neutron Star?

The extreme mass of neutron stars leads to enormous gravitational pulls, resulting in nearly perfect spheres. But those imperfections, or mountains, might be able to help us spot more neutron stars in the future! And back on Venus, more ideas emerge regarding the possibility of life-indicating phosphine in it’s atmosphere.

Hosted by: Hank Green

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[MasterCleife]

The mountains on neutron stars are huge. Think about it. A mountain looks tall when you look up at it. If you were stood on a neutron star you would be crushed down into a height of an atomic nucleus. That millimetre tall mountain would be enormous when you're that short.

[The_Scattered_Man]

You know, I've wondered about the... umm, "bumps" on a neutron star. I also keep wondering: WHAT COLOR are they really? (I mean, IF you could cool one down.) There are no electron shells, so what wavelengths of light would it / would it not interact with. Anybody know?

[wackywankavator]

Luckily neutron star deviations are small and humble so you don't confuse them for mountains. - Shakira, astrophysicist.

[Charliepinman]

Stop making a mountain out of a neutron hill

[dhruvjat]

I wouldn't be worried about stubbing my toe on a mountain while getting my bones crushed into playdough from the gravitational pull.

[greenredblue]

I love the subtle silliness of the phosphine question. For a brief moment there you were seriously comsidering that Venus couldn't possibly have enough eruptions to produce *maybe zero* of something.

[gabrielgauchez]

I like how this channel dont just uploads new discoveries, but also shows revisions of previous studies, the way science is meant to work

[CIubFoot]

Those aren't mountains... they're waves

[toniatchison]

There's an old book, Dragons Egg by Robert L. Forward, that has millimeter high mountains and very tiny inhabitants that the first segment makes me think of.

[james]

I suggest any sci-fi fans read the book Dragon’s Egg. It features mountains on a neutron star. Very nice read.

[nunofernandes]

I read somewhere that in scale, the Earth is smoother than a snooker ball. Now I imagine a neutron star must be as smooth as naturally possible.

[patricknelson]

Reminds me of the book “Dragon’s Egg” by Robert Forward, in which such mountains are mentioned which were also just a few millimeters in height.
EDIT: Never mind, I see that’s been repeated here several times already 😆

[craigvdodge]

You can’t stub your toe on a neutron star mountain because of their height, but also because you would be crushed into a thin film.

[Odin]

Neutron star 'mountains' are millimeters tall... so it's like Kansas then?

[CephDigital]

Random thought: what would happen if you took a chunk of a neutron star away from the star? Would it start expanding and decaying back into protons and electrons or would it hold its form so you'd have a chunk of neutrons?

All assuming you live through getting the chunk in the first place and can survive the potential radiation from the chunk.

[PhilBoswell]

I'd love to see how Robert Forward's book "Dragon's Egg" stands up to what we've learned about neutron stars since it was published…

[maisiesummers]

I read Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward earlier this year. For a book published in 1980, using the science of the time, it was a wonderfully intriguing look at how life on a Neutron Star might exist.

[BadBoyofScience]

The amazing thing about neutron stars is that gravity balances with the degeneracy pressure of the neutrons. Pauli’s exclusion principle won’t let the neutrons get too close and keeps the neutron star in balance. Amazing stuff!

[Parasmunt]

These have always been more incredible to me than black holes. The pressure, mass, gravity, temperature, magnetic field etc all huge. Their starquakes release incredible bursts of destructive energy.

[null]

Everything in nature is perfect. Our representations of it are imperfect.