Remarkable Discovery of a Fast-Spinning Neutron Star in the Milky Way
Recent research has unveiled a neutron star in our Milky Way that rotates at an extraordinary speed of 716 times per second, marking it as one of the fastest-spinning objects ever recorded. Conducted by researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), this groundbreaking discovery utilized an X-ray space telescope mounted on the International Space Station (ISS) to study the neutron star, part of an X-ray binary star system named '4U 1820-30', located in the Sagittarius constellation towards the center of our galaxy.
Dr. Gaurava K. Jaisawal, a senior scientist at DTU Space and first author of a recently published article in the *Astrophysical Journal*, explains, "We were studying thermonuclear explosions from this system and then found remarkable oscillations, suggesting a neutron star spinning around its central axis at an astounding 716 times per second." If future observations confirm these findings, the 4U 1820-30 neutron star will stand alongside another fast-spinning neutron star, PSR J1748-2446.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Technical University of Denmark. The original text of this story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Gaurava K. Jaisawal, Z. Funda Bostancı, Tuğba Boztepe, Tolga Güver, Tod E. Strohmayer, David R. Ballantyne, Jens H. Beck, Ersin Göğüş, Diego Altamirano, Zaven Arzoumanian, Deepto Chakrabarty, Keith C. Gendreau, Sebastien Guillot, Renee M. Ludlam, Mason Ng, Andrea Sanna, Jérôme Chenevez. A Comprehensive Study of Thermonuclear X-Ray Bursts from 4U 1820–30 with NICER: Accretion Disk Interactions and a Candidate Burst Oscillation. The Astrophysical Journal, 2024; 975 (1): 67 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad794e
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