Here's one way it *may* matter:
The best explanation we have for this object, at this point, is that it is a nearby neutron star. If it is spinning rapidly (and that's an if -- we don't know how rapidly it is spinning) and it is not a perfect sphere, then it can be giving off gravitational radiation -- if, in fact, graviational radiation exists as predicted. The fact that it's nearby would make it easier to detect such radiation -- so the object is a potential target for existing gravitational wave detectors, such as LIGO.
But that only matters if theories of gravity are of interest to you.
Actually, the "new discovery" part is that we used a standard method to discover a specific class of neutron star -- the isolated, X-ray bright, radio dim class -- but found an object that, if we assumed it was a member of that class, would have placed it well outside the galactic plane. That offends theorists, mightily, since they are unlikely to be produced in SNe up there (no stars) and cool to quickly to travel there from the plane, unless this particular object is moving with a velocity much much greater than ever observed from a neutron star before (>5100 km/sec; 300 km/sec is more typical).
We compared the NS with other classes we know; and it just doesn't fit well with those, with the exception of a radio pulsar whose beam does not cross our line of sight. If that is true, then Calvera's X-ray flux is such that it should be close by, perhaps the closest known neutron star.
Other notes: supernovae remnants dissipate after about 10,000 years (not 10 Billion). Most of the neutron stars we've observed are not observed with their supernova remanent, but are instead radio pulsars wandering alone.
I'll try to hang out a bit and field more questions.
Mojo,
This sounds identical to the group that hit me (see prev. post), except that they *started* as "Ultimate Health" in NJ selling HGH and then changed to "Advanced Health" in FL selling penis enlargment (which are the majority of the emails I get). I'm now at 205,000 emails and counting.
Would like to know: did it eventually stop? Or did the whitelisting service just sheild you? Please respond to email above.
Slashdot Mirror
Here's one way it *may* matter: The best explanation we have for this object, at this point, is that it is a nearby neutron star. If it is spinning rapidly (and that's an if -- we don't know how rapidly it is spinning) and it is not a perfect sphere, then it can be giving off gravitational radiation -- if, in fact, graviational radiation exists as predicted. The fact that it's nearby would make it easier to detect such radiation -- so the object is a potential target for existing gravitational wave detectors, such as LIGO. But that only matters if theories of gravity are of interest to you.
Actually, the "new discovery" part is that we used a standard method to discover a specific class of neutron star -- the isolated, X-ray bright, radio dim class -- but found an object that, if we assumed it was a member of that class, would have placed it well outside the galactic plane. That offends theorists, mightily, since they are unlikely to be produced in SNe up there (no stars) and cool to quickly to travel there from the plane, unless this particular object is moving with a velocity much much greater than ever observed from a neutron star before (>5100 km/sec; 300 km/sec is more typical). We compared the NS with other classes we know; and it just doesn't fit well with those, with the exception of a radio pulsar whose beam does not cross our line of sight. If that is true, then Calvera's X-ray flux is such that it should be close by, perhaps the closest known neutron star. Other notes: supernovae remnants dissipate after about 10,000 years (not 10 Billion). Most of the neutron stars we've observed are not observed with their supernova remanent, but are instead radio pulsars wandering alone. I'll try to hang out a bit and field more questions.
I can answer that. Quite a lot of data has been collected, but not fully exploited.
Mojo, This sounds identical to the group that hit me (see prev. post), except that they *started* as "Ultimate Health" in NJ selling HGH and then changed to "Advanced Health" in FL selling penis enlargment (which are the majority of the emails I get). I'm now at 205,000 emails and counting. Would like to know: did it eventually stop? Or did the whitelisting service just sheild you? Please respond to email above.