Researchers analyzed data from the VLA Sky Survey and discovered one of the
The object, named VT 1137-0337, is located indwarf galaxy 395 million light-years from Earth. It first appeared in an image taken by the telescope in January 2018 and has remained visible in all subsequent images. The study showed that the bright radio emission, fed by the magnetic field of a rotating pulsar, only recently arose from the dense shell of debris from a supernova explosion.
Judging by its characteristics, this is a very young pulsar - perhaps only 14 years old, but no older than 60-80 years.
Gregg Hallinan, researcher at Caltech
Studying the characteristics of VT 1137-0337, astronomerslooked at several possible explanations, including a supernova, a gamma-ray burst, or tidal disruption in which a star is torn apart by a supermassive black hole. They concluded that the best explanation is the pulsar wind nebula, or plerion.
Estimated evolution of a star. Source: Melissa Weiss, NRAO/AUI/NSF
The pulsar wind is made up of charged particlesaccelerated to relativistic speeds by the rapid rotation of the superstrong magnetic field of a rotating pulsar. In this scenario, a star much more massive than the Sun exploded as a supernova, leaving behind a neutron star.
Most of the initial mass of the star wasthrown out in the form of a shell of debris. The neutron star spins rapidly, and as its powerful magnetic field permeates the surrounding space, it accelerates charged particles, causing strong radio emission.
An example of a plerion is the Crab Nebula,formed as a result of a supernova explosion in 1054. The researchers note that the object they found is about 10,000 times more energetic than the Crab Nebula and has a stronger magnetic field.
Cover image: Melissa Weiss, NRAO/AUI/NSF
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