| Astrophysics (Index) | About |
Neutron drip is neutrons exiting from atomic nuclei. This can occur if a nucleus is neutron heavy, i.e., too many neutrons to be stable. A grid of atomic numbers versus mass numbers has a roughly diagonal region of stability (valley of beta stability) and the line between stable and "too many neutrons" is termed the nuclear drip line. Some extreme pressures that occur in neutron stars also can trigger neutron drip from otherwise-stable nuclei, resulting in some neutron-star layers including both nuclei and free neutrons.