Neutron Star - Subtypes

Subtypes

• Neutron star
  • Protoneutron star (PNS), theorized.
  • Radio-quiet neutron stars
  • Radio loud neutron star
    • Single pulsars–general term for neutron stars that emit directed pulses of radiation towards us at regular intervals (due to their strong magnetic fields).
      • Rotation-powered pulsar ("radio pulsar")
        • Magnetar–a neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field (1000 times more than a regular neutron star), and long rotation periods (5 to 12 seconds).
          • Soft gamma repeater (SGR)
          • Anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP)
    • Binary pulsars
      • Low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB)
      • Intermediate-mass X-ray binaries (IMXB)
      • High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXB)
      • Accretion-powered pulsar ("X-ray pulsar")
        • X-ray burster–a neutron star with a low mass binary companion from which matter is accreted resulting in irregular bursts of energy from the surface of the neutron star.
        • Millisecond pulsar (MSP) ("recycled pulsar")
          • Sub-millisecond pulsar
  • Exotic star
    • Quark star–currently a hypothetical type of neutron star composed of quark matter, or strange matter. As of 2008, there are three candidates.
    • Electroweak star–currently a hypothetical type of extremely heavy neutron star, in which the quarks are converted to leptons through the electroweak force, but the gravitational collapse of the star is prevented by radiation pressure. As of 2010, there is no evidence for their existence.
    • Preon star–currently a hypothetical type of neutron star composed of preon matter. As of 2008, there is no evidence for the existence of preons.