Neutron Stars Spew Like Black Holes This artist's illustration
depicts the jet of relativistic particles blasting out of
Circinus X-1, with a Chandra image (inset) of the jets.
Illustration CREDIT: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss X-ray; Image: NASA/CXC/U.
of Wisc/S. Heinz et al. Black holes are not the only objects in
the universe that spew powerful jets from their poles. Dead,
smoldering stars can emit them, too, and the jets they create
rival and might even surpass those fired by black holes,
scientists find. The discovery, to be detailed in an upcoming
issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters, shows that the
unusual properties of black holes?like the presence of an event
horizon and the lack of an actual surface?are not required for
jets to form. ?Gravity appears to be the key to creating these
jets, not some trick of the event horizon,? said study leader
Sebastian Heinz of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Using
NASA?s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists spotted the jet
20,000 light-years from Earth in Circin