Hubble Sees Bare Neutron Star Streaking Across Space. “It’s as big as Manhattan Island, is 10 trillion times denser than steel, and is hurtling our way at speeds over
100 times faster than a supersonic jet. An alien spaceship? No, it’s a runaway neutron star, called RX
J185635-3754, forged in a stellar explosion that was visible to our ancestors in 1 million B.C. Precise
observations made with the Hubble telescope confirm that the interstellar interloper is the closest
neutron star ever seen. The object also doesn’t have a companion star that would affect its appearance.
Now located 200 light-years away in the southern constellation Corona Australis, it will swing by Earth at
a safe distance of 170 light-years in about 300,000 years.”
