The MeerKAT telescope detects the star. Credit: Danielle Futeselaar
An international team led by a scientist from the University of Sydney has discovered an unusual neutron star that emits a very slow-spinning radio signal, completing one rotation every 76 seconds.
The star is unique because it resides in the “Neutron Star Cemetery,” where no pulsations are expected. The discovery was made by the MeerTRAP team using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa and is published in Astronomy of nature.
The star was initially detected from a single pulse. It was then possible to confirm multiple pulses using consecutive eight-second simultaneous images of sky duration, to confirm their position.
Neutron stars are extremely dense remnants of massive star supernova explosions. Scientists know about 3,000 in our galaxy. However, the new discovery is different from anything we’ve seen so far. The team believes it could belong to the theorized class of ultra-long-period magnets: stars with extremely strong magnetic fields.
Research director Dr Manisha Caleb, formerly at the University of Manchester and now at the University of Sydney, said: “Surprisingly, we only detect radio emissions from this source for 0.5 per cent of its rotation.
“It simply came to our notice then.
Credit: University of Sydney
“So there are likely to be many more of these stars spinning very slowly in the galaxy, which has important implications for understanding how neutron stars are born and age.
“Most pulsar surveys don’t look for such long periods, so we have no idea how many of these stars might exist.”
The newly discovered neutron star is called PSR J0901-4046 and appears to have at least seven different pulse types, some of which are strongly periodic. It shows the characteristics of pulsars, ultra-long period magnets, and even fast radio bursts: brief flashes of radio emission at random locations in the sky.
“This is the beginning of a new class of neutron stars. It has not yet been explored how or if it relates to other classes. There are probably many more. Just look at it.” said Dr. Caleb.
Astrophysicists theorize a new type of neutron star More information: Manisha Caleb, Discovery of a radio-transmitting neutron star with an ultra-long rotation period of 76 s, Astronomy of nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038 / s41550-022-01688-x. www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01688-x Provided by the University of Sydney
Citation: An unusual neutron star that rotates every 76 seconds discovered in the Stellar Cemetery (2022, May 30) recovered on May 30, 2022 from
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