‘Overweight’ neutron star defies a black hole theory, say astronomers

Exclusive: Gamma-ray burst from colliding stars unexpectedly gave way to day-long sight of hypermassive body

An overweight" neutron star has been observed by astronomers, who say the mysterious object confounds astronomical theories.

The hypermassive star was produced by the merger of two smaller neutron stars. Normally such collisions result in neutron stars so massive that they collapse into a black hole almost instantaneously under their own gravity. But the latest observations revealed the monster star hovering in view for more than a day before it faded out of sight.