X-ray Bursters

In an X-ray burster the mechanism is thought to be similar to the nova, except that the star onto which the matter accretes is a neutron star.

Because the gravitational field of a neutron star is much stronger than that of a white dwarf, the accretion leads to much higher temperatures than in the nova outburst . This in turn tends to produce X-rays rather than visible light in the thermonuclear runaway on the surface of the neutron star.