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An accretion outburst onto a neutron star transient heats the neutron star'scrust out of thermal equilibrium with the core. After the outburst the crustthermally relaxes toward equilibrium with the neutron star core and the surfacethermal emission powers the quiescent X-ray light curve. Crust cooling modelspredict that thermal equilibrium of the crust will be established $\approx 1000\, \mathrm{d}$ into quiescence. Recent observations of the cooling neutron startransient MXB 1659-29, however, suggest that the crust did not reach thermalequilibrium with the core on the predicted timescale and continued to coolafter $\approx 2500 \, \mathrm{d}$ into quiescence. Because the quiescent lightcurve reveals successively deeper layers of the crust, the observed late timecooling of MXB 1659-29 depends on the thermal transport in the inner crust. Inparticular, the observed late time cooling is consistent with a low thermalconductivity layer near the depth predicted for nuclear pasta that maintains atemperature gradient between the neutron star's inner crust and core forthousands of days into quiescence. As a result, the temperature near thecrust-core boundary remains above the critical temperature for neutronsuperfluidity and a layer of normal neutrons forms in the inner crust. We findthat the late time cooling of MXB 1659-29 is consistent with heat release froma normal neutron layer near the crust-core boundary with a long thermal time.

Late time cooling of neutron star transients and the physics of the inner crust