Meet Quark Matter — A New State of Being

The densest stars of all — neutron stars — may have an even denser core, where even neutrons are crushed to pieces.

Quark matter may join solid, liquids, gases, and plasmas as a newly-understood state of matter. Far from being exotic, a new study suggests that quark matter could make up a large percentage of the mass of some neutron stars.

Normal matter, out of which most stars are made, consists of atoms made up of positively-charged protons and/or neutral neutrons in their nucleus, surrounded by clouds of negatively-charged…