Astronomers Study Vanishing Neutron Star to Calculate Space

Astronomers Study Vanishing Neutron Star to Calculate Space-Time Warp (VIDEO)

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Catherine Griffin

First Posted: Jan 09, 2015 08:42 AM EST

Astronomers may have succeeding in measuring the space-time warp in the gravity of a binary star. They've managed to determine the mass of a neutron star just before it vanished from view in a race against time. Illustration of one orbit of pulsar J1906 (on the right, with radio beams) around its companion (centered). (Photo : Joeri van Leeuwen/ASTRON)

Astronomers may have succeeding in measuring the space-time warp in the gravity of a binary star. They've managed to determine the mass of a neutron star just before it vanished from view in a race against time.

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In this latest study, the researchers measured the masses of two stars in a binary pulsar system, called J1906. This pulsar spins and emits a lighthouse-like beam of radio waves every 144 milliseconds. In addition, it orbits its companion star in a little under four hours.

Neutron stars wobble like a spinning top as they move through the gravitational well of a massive, nearby companion star. Orbit after orbit, the pulsar travels through a space-time that is curved, which impacts the star's spin axis.

"By precisely tracking the motion of the pulsar, we were able to measure the gravitational interaction between the two highly compact stars with extreme precision," said Ingrid Stairs, one of the researchers, in a news release. "These two stars each weigh more than the sun, but are still over 100 times closer together than Earth is to the sun. The resulting extreme gravity causes many remarkable effects."

The immense gravitation pull from both stars has caused the spin axis of the pulsar to wobble enough that the beams no longer hit Earth. Fortunately, though, the researchers were able to collect data before then and were actually able to measure the mass of the star. Only a handful of double neutron stars have ever been measured, and J1906 is the youngest.

"The pulsar is now all but invisible to even the largest telescopes on Earth," said Joeri van Leeuwen, one of the researchers. "This is the first time such a young pulsar has disappeared through precession. Fortunately this cosmic spinning top is expected to wobble back into view, but it might take as long as 160 years."

The findings are published in the Astrophysical Journal.

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TagsPulsar, space