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Astronomers with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have found a pulsating star that's too cool to be believed.
The object they discovered is a type of neutron star called a pulsar.
Pulsars spin and flash radiation like the spinning lights found on a police car.
Understanding how pulsars function could help explain how nuclear forces and magnetism work in our universe.
Pulsar 3C58 should have a temperature of about 1.5 million degrees Celsius.
However, new readings from Chandra show the star's temperature to be 500,000 degrees cooler than expected.
Pulsars form following the supernova explosion of a once-healthy star.
The explosion triggers a compression of protons and electrons inside the star's core.
The result is a core dense with neutrons and even tinier neutrinos.
The neutrinos escape the center, removing heat-energy and cooling the star.
Why 3C58 is cooling so rapidly is unknown by scientists.
One possible theory suggests the core contains an unusually high number of surviving protons or exotic subatomic particles.
One thing's for certain: Chandra is hot on the answer's trail.