Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 27 September 2002:
Vol. 297. no. 5590, pp. 2199 - 2201
DOI: 10.1126/science.297.5590.2199
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

News Focus

ASTROPHYSICS:
Ashes to Ashes: The Inner Lives of Neutron Stars

Robert Irion

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--Powerful and unpredictable flares of energy called superbursts strike beneath the surfaces of a few special neutron stars--the dense, spinning corpses of stars that died in supernova explosions. Orbiting telescopes have spotted seven superbursts so far, spouting intense x-rays for hours. Even more compelling than the fireworks is the root cause: a thermonuclear flash of heavy elements, burning in ways that might occur nowhere else.

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)