Abstract

Invited Talk - Plenary

Wednesday, 14 September 2022, 11:30   (Keksdose / virtual plenum)

NICER and its view of neutron stars

Anna Watts
University of Amsterdam

NICER, the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, is an X-ray telescope mounted on the International Space Station. Its primary mission is to measure neutron star masses and radii, quantities that reveal the nature of the ultradense nuclear matter in the neutron star core. NICER exploits relativistic effects on X-rays emitted from the hot magnetic polar caps of millisecond pulsars, a technique that also lets us map the hot emitting regions on the stellar surface. I will present NICER's latest results and discuss the implications for our understanding of ultradense matter, pulsar emission, and stellar magnetic fields.