Artist's impression of an evolving white dwarf and millisecond pulsar binary system.
Artist's impression of an evolving white dwarf (foreground) and millisecond pulsar (background) binary system. Using the 4.1-meter SOAR Telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile, part of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF's NOIRLab, astronomers have discovered the first example of a binary system consisting of an evolving white dwarf orbiting a millisecond pulsar, in which the millisecond pulsar is in the final phase of the spin-up process. The source, originally detected by the Fermi Space Telescope, is a “missing link” in the evolution of such binary systems.
Credit:NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine
Acknowledgment: M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
About the Image
Id: | noirlab2202a |
Type: | Artwork |
Release date: | Jan. 12, 2022, 10:15 a.m. |
Related releases: | noirlab2202 |
Size: | 5120 x 2880 px |
About the Object
Category: | Illustrations |
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1.8 MB
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