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Apr 25, 2022

New double neutron star millisecond pulsar discovered

Posted by in categories: physics, space

An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a rare double neutron star millisecond pulsar. The newfound binary pulsar, designated PSR J1325−6253, consists of two neutron stars orbiting one another every 1.8 days. The finding is detailed in a paper published April 14 on arXiv.org.

The most rapidly rotating pulsars, those with rotation periods below 30 milliseconds, are known as (MSPs). It is assumed that they are formed in when the initially more massive component turns into a neutron star that is then spun-up due to accretion of matter from the secondary star.

Some pulsars consist of two (dubbed double neutron star systems—DNS). They are one of the most important classes of objects used to test and understand numerous astrophysical and fundamental physics phenomena, including in the strong-field regime.

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