What's Inside a Neutron Star? The Densest Thing We Can See

What's inside a neutron star, the densest object we can observe directly? We build one from a collapsing star, read its spec sheet (mass, size, spin, magnetism) and then descend layer by layer: a crystal crust, neutron drip, 'nuclear pasta' that may be the strongest material in the universe, a superfluid neutron sea, and a core nobody understands yet. Plus how we know: pulsars, NASA's NICER, the 2017 neutron star merger and a 2004 magnetar superflare. The surface gravity (~100 billion g), escape speed (over half the speed of light) and equator speed of the 716 Hz pulsar (~1/5 of light speed) are our own calculations for a typical 1.4 solar-mass, ~12 km-radius star. Chapters: 0:00 Cold open 0:48 Step 1: How to make a neutron star 1:54 The spec sheet 3:38 Layer 1: The crust 4:15 Layer 2: Nuclear pasta 5:00 Layer 3: The neutron sea 5:56 Layer 4: The mystery center 6:37 How we know any of this 7:51 Starquakes and superflares 8:38 The answer #space #science #astronomy