Neutron star, NASA graphic that shows how neutron stars pack more mass than the earth into a sphere the size of Manhattan

Image: A neutron star, the closest thing to a black hole that astronomers can observe directly, shown to scale against a satellite snap of Manhattan.

At first glance it may look like a scene from the latest Hollywood blockbuster, showing Manhattan’s impending doom from a giant fireball.

In fact this is NASA’s latest attempt to explain the complex astronomical phenomenons of the universe to schoolchildren.

It shows a neutron star, the closest thing to a black hole that astronomers can observe directly, to scale against a satellite picture of Manhattan.

Neutron stars, the crushed core of a star that has exploded as a supernova, pack more mass than the sun into a sphere just 10 to 15 miles wide.

A neutron star is so dense that on Earth, one teaspoonful would weigh a billion tonnes.

The space agency believes its latest image will help explain the power inside a neutrino star by comparing it to a city on earth. Read More