Luckily, nuclear pasta is not coming to a dinner plate near you.
Imagine the densest material in the universe. It’s far harder than a diamond. In fact, this stuff is ten billion times stronger. Nestled in the heart of a neutron star, there’s a material that goes by the name: nuclear pasta.
Why is it called nuclear pasta?
Welcome to the most outlandish, mind-boggling part of astrophysics. Neutron stars, the remnants of massive stars that exploded as supernovae, pack twice the mass of our sun into a sphere just 20 kilometers in diameter. As a result, these objects have some truly wild properties.
If you were to dig into the heart of a neutron star, you’d see layers of complexity. As you delve deeper, things get denser and denser. Around halfway to the center, the density of the material becomes so great that the atomic nuclei become squished into a variety of shapes. Scientists believe they resemble pasta types, hence the nickname.
But what makes this stuff special?
According to research, these are likely the densest and hardest substances in the universe. In fact, one sugar cube of nuclear pasta would weigh as much as a mountain.
Theoretical physicists and astrophysicists have been trying to simulate nuclear pasta to better understand its properties. According to a 2018 study, nuclear pasta may be the strongest material in the universe. It’s not only incredibly dense but also has a shearing resistance tougher than steel’s.
This immense density results in intense gravitational fields, causing the pasta shapes to align themselves into an incredibly tight lattice structure. This structure could play a crucial role in various neutron star phenomena, including starquakes, glitches, and even gravitational waves.
Interestingly, nuclear pasta doesn’t exist naturally on Earth, and for a good reason – it’s way too dense and strong for our environment. But the fact that it exists in the universe opens up a whole new realm of physics.
Discovering the existence of nuclear pasta is also vital for understanding neutron stars better. These stars are not only fascinating in their own right but also play a crucial role in the life cycles of galaxies. Understanding more about neutron stars could, therefore, lead to insights about how galaxies, including our own Milky Way, evolve over time.
There’s still so much to learn about neutron stars. But one thing’s for sure – the universe is full of fantastic and surprising structures!
— WTF fun facts
Source: “What is nuclear pasta?” — BBC Sky at Night Magazine