Narrator (April Hobart, CXC): A new discovery from a famous exploded star has provided the first evidence for a bizarre state of matter in its core. The news comes from the studies of Cassiopeia A, the remains of a massive star that was seen exploding in Earths sky over 300 years ago. A sequence of observations from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory over the past decade shows that the ultradense core of the star left behind after the explosion known as a neutron star has cooled by about 4%. This information, along with theoretical work, indicates that the neutron star contains a mysterious state of matter known as a superfluid. This research will help scientists better understand nuclear interactions in matter at the highest densities known anywhere either here on Earth or out in space.
Revised: May 19, 2022