Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany
Pulsars are highly magnetizedrotating neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic radiation. They are usually observed in the form of short bursts of radio emission. However, some of them can also be found using optical, X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes.
Now a group of astronomers reportsabout the discovery of new pulsars in Omega Centauri, the largest globular cluster in our galaxy. It is also known as NGC 5139 and is located approximately 17,000 light years from Earth. Until recently, only five pulsars were found there.
"We used excellentsensitivity of the MeerKAT radio telescope for searching for pulsars in Omega Centauri. This more than tripled the population of identified objects of this type in the cluster,” the researchers write.
New pulsars (designated by PSRJ1326-4728F to PSR J1326-4728R) were found in the core, and also between it and half the light radius of Omega Centauri. All new objects were classified as millisecond pulsars, since their rotation period is less than 30 milliseconds (between 2.27 and 18.95 ms). Seven of them turned out to be binary systems, and the remaining six were isolated pulsars.
The new discovery has increased the numberThere are up to 18 pulsars in Omega Centauri. Moreover, scientists have found that all double pulsars in this GC, with the exception of PSR J1326−4728Q, have very low-mass satellites (with a mass less than 0.1 solar masses), characteristic of the so-called “systems.” black widow."
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На обложке: представление художника о пульсарах, Kevin Gill / flickr.com