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A strange pulsar emanating from a nearby neutron star, RX J0806.4-4123, emits a strange light and scientists do not know exactly what is causing it.
A team of researchers at Penn State University discovered the strange emission using the Hubble Space Telescope and noted that the pulsar emitted only far-infrared radiation.
"This neutron star belongs to a group of seven nearby X-ray pulsars – nicknamed" the seven gorgeous "- which are warmer than they should be given their age and the available energy reservoir provided by the loss. of rotational energy, "said a statement Bettina Posselt, associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics research at Penn State and lead author of the paper.
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Posselt continued, "We have observed an extended infrared emission zone around this neutron star – called RX J0806.4-4123 – whose total size translates to about 200 astronomical units (or 2.5 times the Orbit of Pluto around the Sun) at the supposed distance of the pulsar. "
According to NASA, neutron stars are remnants of supernova explosions and contain about 1.5 times the mass of the Sun – about half a million Earths – within a 12-mile ball.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2021, will replace the Hubble and allow researchers to better understand neutron stars as described above. The Hubble, built by NASA with the contribution of the European Space Agency, has been in low orbit since 1990.
The results were published in the Astrophysical Journal, where two potential explanations have been proposed: there is a disc of matter surrounding the star or there is an energetic wind blowing the neutron star, interacting with the gas in the space, this which would eventually create a nebula.
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If it 's actually a record, the material would have come from "the massive star of progenitor," said Posselt, before adding that if she interacted with the neutron star, she would could have heated the pulsar, slowing its rotation evolve.
The explanation of the energetic wind is a little more complex, explained Posselt.
"A pulsar wind nebula would require the neutron star to have a pulsar wind," Posselt said. "A pulsar wind can be produced when particles are accelerated in the electric field produced by the rapid rotation of a neutron star with a strong magnetic field.
Posselt continued: "While the neutron star passes through the interstellar medium at a speed greater than that of the sound, a shock can form where the interstellar medium and the pulsar wind interact." The shocked particles would then emit a synchrotron emission. Typically, pulsar wind nebulae are seen in X-rays and an only infrared pulsar wind nebula would be very unusual and exciting.
Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia
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