Neutron Star Stuff: Just neutrons, no quarks

Neutron stars cram more mass than that of the sun into a sphere as wide as a city. A teaspoon’s worth of a neutron star weighs in at a billion tons. Exotic though they may be, neutron stars are not what physicists would call strange, according to a study reported this week.

EXPLOSIVE FINDING. Illustration shows a thermonuclear burst engulfing the surface of a neutron star.