Artistic vision of the creation of jets by a neutron star. The first thread is shown here before being removed to a powerful plasma stream.
A team of astronomers from the University of Amsterdam suspects that neutron stars with a powerful magnetic field are capable of releasing jets. Since the 1980s it was believed that powerful magnetic fields do not allow such flows to form. But observations in improved telescopes show the presence of jet streams.
Jets are energetically rich plasma streams escaping from black holes or neutron stars at high accelerations. I had to spend a lot of reviews to refute or confirm the beliefs of the 80s.
Data doubts
In 2013, Natalie Degenar decided that it was time to look at neutron stars with improved equipment. She used the Very Large Telescope and examined the binary systems X-1 and GX 1 + 4. Both are represented by a conventional star and a neutron one. The analysis showed that both neutron stars create radio waves, and the intensity is comparable with the indicators of the jets. This made it possible to exclude a number of processes, such as stellar wind, that could affect the phenomenon.
Most likely, for the X-1 system, the radiation is not created by a blow due to the contact of the star and the magnetic field. The researchers plan to examine objects more closely in order to accurately determine if there are jet events. We are also going to conduct observations of other neutron stars in order to understand whether this activity is characteristic of the whole species.
