A pulsar has been find with behavior so unusual it is think likely to be the first of a new class of neutron stars . Its 76 second full point and unexpected location make astronomers call back this could be the first example of radical - long period magnetars , a type of neutron star long theorized , but never before seen .
Neutron star are impart behind by supernova explosions in star with masses between 10 and 25 times the Sun ’s . Initially immensely hot , they generate no raw energy , unless accrete issue onto them , and therefore gradually cool down . Consequently , while the galaxy is thought to be littered with neutron principal , we can only see those young enough to have retained much of their high temperature . Pulsars are a stratum of neutron stars that give off tuner wave beams that sweep the sky as they spin .
Nature Astronomyreports the discovery of a pulsar nominate PSR J0901 - 4046 with several novel features that make it unlike anything determine before , but the contingent are far from fall .
Pulsars go out spinning thousands of multiplication a 2d , and slow down until they have spin periods of decade of seconds . At 75.9 moment PSR J0901 - 4046 ’s period is more than three times the previous record , an anomalouswhite dwarf pulsarandmystery caseaside .
However , that is only the beginning of its unusual feature . Instead of producing superposable impulse every clip its radio balance beam sweep past Earth , it displayed seven different types of pulses , based on bod and saturation . The most vulgar are those the authors cite to as “ tear - acme ” , followed by those key as “ quasi - periodic ” and “ partially nulling ” .
An extra unpaired feature to PSR J0901 - 4046 is that it was located in the Milky Way ’s Vela - X1 region , an field known as a neutron lead “ necropolis ” . Any such star there are thought to be old enough to have stopped emitting , since tumid virtuoso constitution stopped there a retentive prison term ago .
The report concludes PSR J0901 - 4046 has an eld of 5.3 million years , sure-enough by pulsar standard but not exceptionally so . However , many other aspect of what has been witness are harder to explain .
“ Ultimately , it is ill-defined what causes the quasi - periodicity in PSR J0901 - 4046 , ” the newspaper notes . “ globose magneto - elastic axile ( torsional ) oscillations are a beguiling explanation , but the tenaciousness of our periodicities would require repeated triggers and/or very long damping times . ”
One likely hypothesis is that PSR J0901 - 4046 isa magnetar , a rare form of pulsar marked by its immensely unattackable magnetic field . However , many of its measured feature are even less like other magnetars than they are like sure non - magnetar pulsars . For instance , unlike other known magnetars , it has not been establish to emit X - Rays .
It haspreviously been proposedthat a class of old , ultra - longsighted flow magnetars might exist , and PSR J0901 - 4046 may be the first illustration we have discover .
Crucially , it would have been very gentle to neglect PSR J0901 - 4046 . " The majority of pulsar surveys do not seek for geological period this long , so we have no idea how many of these asterisk might exist,”Dr Manisha Calebof the University of Sydney said in astatement . accordingly , it is likely there are many pulsar similar to PSR J0901 - 4046 in the galaxy , and we ’ve been overlook them .
If that ’s the eccentric , either there are many more neutron stars in coltsfoot than we previously cypher , or we ’ve been underestimate pulsar ' life cycles , or the relationship between magnetars and other neutron stars has been misunderstood .
