While pulsar astronomers usually are interested in tight binary pulsars with fast orbital motion when testing general relativity, the researchers were now looking for a slowly moving
millisecond pulsar in a wide orbit.
A population of gamma-ray
millisecond pulsars seen with the Fermi Large Area Telescope.
X-ray and y-ray studies of the
millisecond pulsar and possible x-ray binary/radio pulsar transition object PSR J1723-2837.
In 2000, the
millisecond pulsar PSR B1620-26 was found to have a circumbinary planet (i.e., PSR B1620-26 b) that orbits both it and its companion white dwarf, WD B1620-26 [4].
As a
millisecond pulsar twirls speedily on its axis, the beams may whip past Earth and show up as a series of pulses.
Their study can also help explain an increasing number of observed binary
millisecond pulsars which seem to require a triple system origin.
This star's capricious behavior appears to be fueled by a nearby companion star and may give new insights into the birth of
millisecond pulsars.
Observations of the precession of the
millisecond pulsar PSR B1516+O2B, located some 25,000 light-years away in the globular cluster M5, indicate that the pulsar most likely has a mass equivalent to about 1.94 suns.
Summary: TEHRAN (FNA)- An international team of scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered a surprisingly powerful
millisecond pulsar that challenges existing theories about how these objects form.
Markwardt and Jean Swank of Goddard identified the source as material falling onto a
millisecond pulsar from its companion.