From the January 2003 issue

Animation of a star collapse

See how a neutron star forms.
By | Published: January 7, 2003 | Last updated on May 18, 2023
When the core of a massive star collapses, a supernova explosion occurs and the collapsed core forms an extremely compact, rapidly spinning neutron star. Some theories propose that the neutrons could dissolve into free quarks, causing the neutron star to shrink further and become a strange quark star. NASA has announced the detection of a possible strange quark star.

Click here to visit the Chandra X-ray Observatory web site and watch an animation of a star collapse.