In arecently published study, scientists discovered that the 4U 1820-30 neutron star spins exceptionally quickly.
For reference, the Earth spins once per day, which translates to about 0.00069 revolutions per minute.
Meanwhile, 4U 1820-30 spins 716 times persecond.
That translates to about 42,960 revolutions per minute.
That means this neutron star spins 61,902,017 times faster than Earth.
It’s officially one of the fastest-spinning objects ever observed in the known universe.
Neutron stars also happen to besome of the densest objectsin the universe.
Fun fact: Researchers have alsowatched a neutron star glitch out before and still can’t explain whyit happened.
Just how fast is 716 revolutions per second?
However, we can come close with some gadgets and tools that also spin pretty quickly.
716 revolutions per second translates to 42,960 rpm, and that’s a number we can work with.
To put it into perspective, most blenders spin between 15,000 and 30,000 rpm.
Gasoline-powered engines often redline at around 5,500 to 7,000 rpm, with only performance cars going higher.
Thus, this neutron star spins faster than most centrifuges, blenders and gas-powered engines.
There are still things that spin even faster.
Researchers at Purdue Universityonce created an objectthat spins at 300 million rpm.
You don’t have to reach the limits of science to find faster objects.
The drill they use at the dentist can spin at anywhere between 100,000 and 400,000 rpm.
