Wikipedia: Neutron star/Talk

Question: what is the internal structure of a neutron star like? Where are the boundaries between neutronium, degenerate and normal matter located? What percentage of the stars mass or volume are each? What is degenerate matter? What do the boundaries between the layers look like? What is there shape? (I suppose some of these questions may not have answers yet...) -- SJK

I can answer some of these questions...

From what I've read, neutron stars don't have any internal structure. It's just neutrons, all the way through. The degenerate and normal matter layers are just a few meters thick on the surface. So it's something like 99.9% plus percent of the star's mass is neutrons. This is because nothing else can possibly exist inside there.

It's wierd to think about them. A neutron star is essentially a titanic atomic nucleus, which is held together by gravitational force instead of the weak nuclear force. -- The ansible

Whoever deleted the term 'neutronium' from the main page -- if you are saying not to use that term, note we already have a page neutronium. Secondly, I find your new version hard to follow -- whats an 'iron layer'? Finally, but 'quark matter' you mean what? -- SJK

: more on neutronium - http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/ross/ph227/evolve/whitey.htm

: "quark matter" is probably a reference to strange matter

Sorry, it was made in a haste. Iron layer is a thin crust of metalic iron, by quark matter i mean a soup where not even individual neutrons exist, but a mixture of quarks of different kinds. "strange" matter is matter partially composed by "strange" quarks. What i tried to emphasize is that there was a comtinuum of compositions inside a neutron star, and that telling "a crust of degenerate matter and and interior of neutronium" was an oversimplification that also hided the fact that there is no aggreement respect to what's in the core. AN

Ok. i can live with that for the time being. AN

: You see - we actually can all get along :) - MMGB