The Eighth and Closest Neutron Star
August 20, 2007 Leave a comment
Neutron stars are the leftovers of a supernova event, but with a mass too small to form a black hole. Instead, the leftovers compress into an incredibly dense mass of a tiny size (by astronomical standards; only a few miles in diameter). This results in a small volume (say, a pinch, or a teaspoon) weighing in at a weight of millions of tons.
The eighth star is nicknamed Calvera, after the villain in the movie "The Magnificent Seven" (Calvera was played by Eli Wallach), as an inside joke (there were seven previously-discovered neutron stars, referred to previously as the Magnificent Seven).
Calvera has the honor of being the closest to Earth; not to be confused with the amazing collection of stories by Larry Niven ("Neutron Star").
Thanks to MSNBC for "Astronomers spot nearest neutron star".