SMuK 2021 – scientific programme

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SYNS: Symposium Neutron stars

SYNS 1: Symposium on Neutron Stars

SYNS 1.3: Invited Talk

Thursday, September 2, 2021, 15:20–16:00, Audimax

A NICER view of neutron stars — •Anna Watts — University of Amsterdam

NICER, the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, is an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station. Its mission is to study the nature of the densest matter in the Universe, found in the cores of neutron stars. NICER uses Pulse Profile Modeling, a technique that exploits relativistic effects on X-rays emitted from the hot magnetic polar caps of millisecond pulsars, to make simultaneous measurements of neutron star masses and radii. These depend directly on the dense matter Equation of State. Pulse Profile Modeling also lets us map the hot emitting regions, which form as magnetospheric particles slam into the stellar surface at the magnetic polar caps. I will present NICER's latest results - including a measurement of the radius for the highest mass pulsar known - and discuss the implications for our understanding of ultradense matter, pulsar emission, and neutron star magnetic fields.