Chinese astronomers discover rare triple system containing a millisecond pulsar
Astronomers using China's FAST radio telescope have detected a rare triple star system located 7,000 light-years from Earth.
FTMQ Space, written by our newsroom0 views
Astronomers in China using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, or FAST, have discovered a triple star system about 7,000 light-years from Earth. The South China Morning Post and UA.NEWS reported that the research team was led by Han Jinlin from the National Astronomical Observatories in Beijing. Their findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. [1][2]
According to UA.NEWS, the system contains a millisecond pulsar, a white dwarf, and a Sun-like star. The pulsar rotates more than 300 times per second and orbits the white dwarf every eight days. The Sun-like star travels around the central pair in a outer orbit that takes 73.5 years to complete. [1]
A pulsar is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation from its magnetic poles. Because neutron stars are extremely dense and possess short, regular rotational periods, they produce precise intervals between pulses. [4]
As UA.NEWS noted, this discovery marks only the second known star system of this specific type ever detected by astronomers. [1]
In short
- Chinese astronomers discovered a triple star system located 7,000 light-years away using the FAST radio telescope.
- The system consists of a millisecond pulsar, a white dwarf, and a Sun-like star.
- The pulsar rotates over 300 times per second and orbits the white dwarf every eight days.
- This is only the second known triple star system of this specific type.
Sources
Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.
- [1]Triple system with pulsar discovered in China — South China Morning PostUA.NEWS, 23h ago (the report this story comes from)
- [2]Chinese astronomers find real 3-body system. It is not what Liu Cixin thinksSouth China Morning Post, 1d ago
Background
- [3]South China Morning Post on Wikipedia
- [4]Pulsar on Wikipedia
- [5]South China Morning Post on Grokipedia
- [6]SpaceX, South Korea, and China Prepare for Rocket Launches This Week FTMQ Space, 18d ago
Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 6 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.
Related from FTMQ Space
Earlier reports of ours on the same people and subjects.
- Astronomers locate most distant fast radio burst using Webb and MeerKATTelescopes & Observatories, 15d ago
- XRISM Observatory Detects Pulsar Feeding From Giant Star Stellar WindTop Stories, 19d ago
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