Astronomers have detected the first gamma ray eclipses from a “spider” star system, where a fast-spinning, superdense neutron star called a pulsar is feeding off a stellar companion. These unprecedented gamma-ray dimming are caused by a low-mass companion star that moves in front of the pulsar and blocks the high-energy photons for a very short time.

While analyzing the data, an international team of scientists identified seven spider systems experiencing such gamma-ray eclipses. NASA’s gamma-ray telescope has been around for over 10 years.. In one case, the findings helped scientists discover how a spider system tilts relative to Earth and determine the mass of pulsars in such systems. In the future, this research could help scientists determine which mass marks the dividing line between them. neutron stars and black holes.

“One of the most important purposes of studying spiders is to try to measure the masses of pulsars,” U said. Colin Clark, an astrophysicist and leader of the research team at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Germany, said..

How are spider systems born?

Like all neutron stars and black holes, pulsars form when they are large. stars The nuclear fusion fuels run out and the external energy that supports them against gravitational collapse stops. When the core of such a star collapses and the outer material is blown away by a supernova, the spin of the core increases significantly, just as a skater pulls on her arms to speed up her spin.

Core collapse results in the formation of a neutron star, an object about 12 miles (17 kilometers) across, roughly the width of a city, with the mass of the Sun or more. Soil – so dense that just one teaspoon is 4 billion tons, the equivalent of 600 Great Pyramids of Giza stacked on a spoon.

If the star is large enough, its internal gravity will suppress this material, 95% of which is neutrons, causing a complete collapse that results in the birth of a black hole. However, where the dividing line is blurred.

“Pulsars are basically balls of the densest matter we can measure,” Clark said. “The maximum mass they can achieve limits physics in these extreme environments that cannot be replicated on Earth.” Source