Astro Glossary

Neutron Stars

The crushed remnant of a star that exploded as a supernova. Stars that are born with about 8 to 20 times the mass of the Sun blast most of their material into interstellar space in titanic explosions, leaving only their crushed, dense cores. Neutron stars are named after their composition: neutrons. In a star with a core that is 1.4 to 3 times the mass of the Sun, the core collapses so completely that electrons and protons combine to form neutrons. A full bathtub of neutron-star material (instead of water) would weigh as much as two Mount Everests. A neutron star is about 10-15 miles (16-24 km) in diameter, with a liquid neutron core and a crust of solid iron. Some neutron stars, called pulsars, spin rapidly (from once a second to several hundred times per second) and generate powerful magnetic fields.

New Horizons Mission

New Horizons is a spacecraft that flew past Pluto in the summer of 2015. It mapped the surfaces of Pluto and its biggest moon, Charon, and snapped pictures of the dwarf planet's three smaller moons. It is scheduled to rendezvous with another Kuiper Belt Object, 2014 MU69, on New Year's Day, 2019.

Newton, Sir Isaac

A British mathematician and physicist who lived from 1643 - 1727. Newton made major advances in the studies of optics, mathematics, astronomy, and physics, most of which were published in his two major works, Opticks and Principia. Among other innovations, he constructed the first reflecting telescope (now known as a Newtonian style telescope), invented integral calculus, and postulated a Universal Law of Gravity. Newton’s First Law: Objects in motion stay in motion, and objects at rest stay at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force. Newton’s Second Law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton’s Third Law: The force exerted on an object and the acceleration of the object are directly proportional. The constant of proportionality is the mass of the object. Newton’s Law of Gravity:The gravitational force exerted on one object by another object is proportional to the product of the masses of the two objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. The constant of proportionality is the Universal Gravitational Constant, G.

Nobel Prize

Norse Astronomy and Folklore

North Pole

Northern Cross

Nova

A nova is an explosion from the surface of a white-dwarf star in a binary system. A nova occurs when the white dwarf, which is the dense core of a once-normal star, “steals” gas from its nearby companion star. When enough gas builts up on the surface of the white dwarf it triggers a thermonuclear explosion. For a brief time, the system can shine up to a million times brighter than normal. As long as it continues to take gas from its companion star, the white dwarf can produce nova outbursts at regular intervals.

Novae and Supernovae

A nova is an explosion from the surface of a white-dwarf star in a binary star system. A nova occurs when the white dwarf, which is the dense core of a once-normal star, “steals” gas from its nearby companion star. When enough gas builts up on the surface of the white dwarf it triggers an explosion. For a brief time, the system can shine up to a million times brighter than normal. As long as it continues to take gas from its companion star, the white dwarf can produce nova outbursts at regular intervals. A supernova is a violent stellar explosion that can shine as brightly as an entire galaxy of billions of normal stars. Astronomers divide supernovae into two groups: Type I and Type II. Type I supernovae most likely form as a white dwarf “steals” hot gas from a companion star. If enough gas piles up on the surface of the white dwarf, a runaway thermonuclear explosion blasts the star to bits, leaving nothing behind. These are the brightest supernovae, and can be used to measure the distances to other galaxies. Type II supernovae are the final stage in the evolution of stars that are at least eight times as massive as the Sun. Such a star reaches a point where it can no longer produce nuclear energy in its core. Without the outward pressure created by this energy, gravity wins out and causes the star’s core to collapse to form a neutron star or black hole. The star’s outer layers “rebound” violently, blasting into space at several percent of the speed of light.

Nuclear Fusion

A reaction that involves two atomic nuclei merging to create the nucleus of a new atom. The reaction is accompanied by a tremendous release of energy. The Sun’s energy, as with all stars, comes from nuclear fusion reactions that happen in its core. The reactions fuse hydrogen nuclei into helium nuclei. About 0.7 percent of the mass of the hydrogen is converted to energy, which makes the star shine.