APOD: An Unexpected Flare from the Crab Nebula (2011 May 23)

[rstevenson]

I was staggered at the sheer number of authors in the report brought up by the "past" link in the explanation. Out of interest I tried to count them but I gave up at 50 when I was still well under half-way!

168 (No, I didn't count them; I used a wee bit of programming.)

Rob

[DavidLeodis]

I was staggered at the sheer number of authors in the report brought up by the "past" link in the explanation. Out of interest I tried to count them but I gave up at 50 when I was still well under half-way!

168 (No, I didn't count them; I used a wee bit of programming.)

Rob

Wow

Thanks Rob

Dave

[DavidTCasey@yahoo.com]

So is there any debate on whether this was an artificially induced "flicker" or if it's completely random (or somewhere in between)?

[Chris Peterson]

So is there any debate on whether this was an artificially induced "flicker" or if it's completely random (or somewhere in between)?

Artificial? Certainly not. Random- not really. It was a naturally occurring, semi-periodic event.

[NoelC]

Thanks for your thoughts, neufer. I love the look and feel of that image.

A radiating neutron star is losing mass (m=E/c²) not gaining it.

Only the accretion/collision of matter from another star can cause
a neutron star to pass the mass limit so as to collapse into a black hole.

So you're saying radiation pressure simply doesn't/can't apply as it did with the "normal" matter in the star, and that further degeneration into black hole state relies solely on an increase in matter. Interesting.

That matter can collapse into degenerate states sure "feels" to me like what might happen in a mathematical model... In other words, could we and all this be just one big "Universe Simulation 7.0" on a powerful 11-dimensional computer at Supreme Being U?

-Noel