Neutron stars are incredibly hot celestial objects, with surface temperatures reaching over 10 million Kelvin (K) at the time of their formation. However, they do not produce heat through nuclear fusion like many other stars. Instead, they cool over time, and their surface temperatures can drop significantly. For instance, neutron stars can reach a temperature of about 1 million K when they are between 1,000 to 1,000,000 years old [1][3].

An example of a well-studied neutron star, RX J1856.5−3754, has an average surface temperature of around 434,000 K [1][3]. This is still much hotter than our Sun, which has a surface temperature of about 5,780 K [3][6].

What is the temperature of a neutron star?

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