Invisible Quantum Vortices in Neutron Stars
Imagine a spinning top the size of a city, weighing more than the Sun and making hundreds of revolutions per second. That's a neutron star — the remnant of an exploded star. Occasionally, its rotation suddenly speeds up, as if something inside has switched. Astronomers call these jumps glitches and suspect that invisible vortices in the star's superfluid interior are to blame.