Astronomers Say , Neutron Jet Emissions , Travel at Relativistic Speeds.<br />Gizmodo reports that new research suggests that <br />the dense remains of massive stars propel jets of gas and <br />dust at speeds of hundreds of millions of miles per hour.<br />Neutron stars are the stellar remains of <br />some of the densest objects in the universe. .<br />According to new research, neutron star jets <br />can travel up to 70,836 miles per hour, <br />just over one-third the speed of light. .<br />Relativistic effects like time dilation and length <br />contraction are believed to occur at speeds <br />exceeding just one-tenth the speed of light. .<br />James Miller Jones, , an astrophysicist at Curtin University in <br />Australia and co-author of the research, .<br />notes that neutron stars are, "so dense that they can pull material off <br />the surface of a nearby companion star.".<br />That gas spirals down onto the surface <br />of that neutron star where it gets very, <br />very hot and dense. Once enough of it <br />builds up nuclear fusion reactions <br />start to happen on the surface, James Miller Jones, astrophysicist at Curtin University<br />in Australia and co-author, via 'Gizmodo'.<br />Using the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the <br />International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, researchers found that thermonuclear explosions on <br />distant stars kickstart these high-speed jet emissions. .<br />When these explosions occurred, they generated<br />high-speed jets and bright X-rays which made <br />it possible for researchers to measure speeds. .<br />The findings suggest that the staggering <br />speed of these emissions is close to escape <br />speed, or the needed velocity for material to <br />escape the neutron star's gravitational speed. .<br />Gizmodo reports that the team's results will inform <br />future models of jet formation and could help reveal <br />some of the most extreme physics in the universe.
