Astrophysics (Index)About

Thorne-Żytkow object

(TZO, TŻO)
(giant star with a neutron star at its center)

A Thorne-Żytkow object (TZO or TŻO) is a theoretical star type consisting of a giant star with a neutron star as its core. One could result from a neutron star colliding with a red giant or supergiant; if the two come into contact, drag could eventually bring the neutron star to the center after a phase with the neutron star within the giant star's envelope, orbiting the giant star's core. Alternately, this could happen when a neutron star is swallowed during a binary companion's expansion into such a giant star. It is assumed such a TZO would be a phase, perhaps leading to a more conventional neutron star with an accretion disk. A number of candidates exist, among them the star HV 2112 identified as such in 2014.


(star type,neutron stars,theory)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorne-Zytkow_object
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HV_2112
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1975ApJ...199L..19T/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.443L..94L/abstract
https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/talk_archive/Tout2016.pdf

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