Disk Detective Talk

HD121611 star

  • onetimegolfer by onetimegolfer

    Is this B9.5V C star a neutron star and is it a pulsar? Can we tell when we have a neutron star and/or pulsar by the images provided as this one has spikes. Im probably showing my ignorance again.

    Posted

  • lrebull by lrebull scientist, translator, admin

    The "spikes" come from how the telescope+detector responds to a bright point source. They are called diffraction spikes, and are a result of (among other things) the supports that hold the secondary mirror in the telescope. You looked up this star's spectral type on Simbad, so you know it's a B 9.5 V (I'm not sure what that "c" is in the type on SIMBAD; I think it is telling you something about where the spectral type is pulled from, as opposed to part of the spectral type). What that means is that it is a hot, O star, burning hydrogen. For more on spectral classes, you can start with this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification
    Since we have a spectral type, we know it is not a white dwarf or a neutron star (what it would have to be if it was a pulsar).

    Posted

  • onetimegolfer by onetimegolfer

    thankyou Irebull I will follow-up on the wiki site

    Posted