Neutron stars contain 500,000 times the mass of the Earth in a sphere with a diameter of around 16 miles. This density is equivalent to a Boeing 747 being compressed down into a single grain of sand. A neutron star is so small and dense that one teaspoon of its material would have a mass over 12 trillion pounds. Hence, the gravitational force of a typical neutron star is such that if an object were to fall from a height of one meter, it would only take one microsecond to hit the surface of the neutron star, and would do so at around 2000 kilometers per second, or 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Matter falling onto the surface of a neutron star from space would be accelerated to tremendous speed by the stars gravity. The force of impact would likely destroy the objects component atoms, rendering all its matter identical, in most respects, to the rest of the star. Damn.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 02:19:52 +0000
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