Tomasz Nowakowski is a writer for Phys.org.
An international team of astronomy has investigated a cluster of objects using a radio telescope. Two new millisecond pulsars have been found in this cluster. The paper was published on the arXiv pre-print server.
The rotating neutron stars emit a beam of radiation. They are usually detected in the form of short bursts of radio emission.
The most rapidly rotating pulsars, those with rotation periods below 30 milliseconds, are known as millisecond pulsars. They are thought to be formed in a pair of systems when one component becomes a neutron star and the other becomes a secondary star.
spider pulsars are a class of extreme binary pulsars with semi-degenerate companion stars that are categorized as black widows if the companion has less than 0.1 solar mass.
A group of astronomer led by Laila Vleeschower of the University of Manchester, UK, have found two new objects. The two pulsars were found in a massive and dense cluster located in the constellation of Sagittarius. The discovery was made using 33 observations using the L-band receiver of the MeerKAT telescope.
According to the paper, the isolated MSP is called NGC 6440G and has a spin period of over five minutes. The dispersion measure of the pulsar is 218.6 pc/ cm 3.
There is a spin period of 2.85 milliseconds. The black widow nature of the pulsar is demonstrated by the fact that it has a low-mass companion that circles the host every 0.36 days. The measure of dispersion was 222.6 pc/ cm 3.
Vleeschower's team has discovered four isolated and four binary pulsars in the same region. The lightest mass companion of any known pulsar in a cluster has been found by the researchers.
The lightest mass pulsar companion so far known in a GC is the companion to NGC 6440H.
More information: L. Vleeschower et al, Discoveries and Timing of Pulsars in NGC 6440. arXiv:2204.00086v1 [astro-ph.HE], arxiv.org/abs/2204.00086The Science X Network will be launched in 2022.
Citation: Two millisecond pulsars detected in globular cluster NGC 6440 (2022, April 12) retrieved 12 April 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-04-millisecond-pulsars-globular-cluster-ngc.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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