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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