We can count the number of stars on our fingers and toes, thanks to a new star that has just been found.
It's not more than 30,000 light-years away. Preliminary observations and investigations suggest that it is an X-ray millisecond pulsar, which is the only one of its kind in the world.
Any new object that is found is an exciting find that can yield important statistical information about how those objects form, evolve, and behave.
The discovery is getting a lot of attention. The Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) instrument mounted on the outside of the International Space Station detected X-ray light coming from the object on 7 June.
In a notice posted to The Astronomer's Telegram (ATel), a team headed by Hitoshi Negoro of Nihon University in Japan posted that they had identified a previously uncatalogued X-ray source. They had not been able to identify it based on the MAXI data.
It wasn't long before others joined the discussion. Jamie Kennea of Pennsylvania State University and his colleagues homed in on the location to confirm the detection using an independent instrument.
Swift was able to see the object in X-rays, but not optical or ultraviolet light.
"This location does not lie at the location of any known X-ray source, therefore we agree that this is a new Transient source MAXI J1816-195," they wrote.
In addition, archival observations taken in June of last year do not reveal any point source at this location.
An X-ray NASA instrument mounted to the International Space Station was being investigated by an astronomer.
Things began to get really interesting at this point. It is thought that the thing is spinning at a rate of 528.6 times per second and has an X-ray thermonuclear burst as well.
MAXI J1816-195 is a new X-ray pulsar and it has been detected.
That means what? Not every pulsar is built the same. A pulsar is a type of star, which is the collapsed core of a massive star that has died. Up to 2.2 times the mass of the Sun, these objects are packed into a sphere of just 12 miles.
A neutron star needs to have a pulse to be considered a pulsar. The beams of radiation are launched from the poles because of the way the star is tilted. A millisecond pulsar pulse hundreds of times a second.
There are some pulsars that are powered by rotation and others that are powered by accretion. In a system with another star, material from the companion star is ferried to the neutron star. The material falls down onto the surface when it is hit by the magnetic field of the star.
The accretion process can cause the pulsar to spin up to a certain speed. It appears that MAXI J1816-195 is in the rare category.
The thermonuclear X-ray burst was probably caused by the burning of material by the companion star.
Observations in multiple wavelength are continuing since the discovery is new. Swift was used to conduct follow-up and the 2mLiverpool Telescope was used to look for an optical counterpart. Astronomers are encouraged to ride the MAXI J1816-1 95 train.
As more data becomes available, a full pulsar timing analysis is being conducted, and will be circulating as soon as possible. Follow along on ATel.
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