Artist's Impression of Disk Around a Neutron Star

 Artist's Impression of Disk Around a Neutron Star

This illustration shows a neutron star (RX J0806.4-4123) with a disk of warm dust that produces an infrared signature as detected by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The disk wasn’t directly photographed, but one way to explain the data is by hypothesizing a disk structure that could be 18 billion miles across. The disk would be made up of material falling back onto the neutron star after the supernova explosion that created the stellar remnant.

Credits

NASA, ESA, and N. Tr’Ehnl (Pennsylvania State University)