Astronomers discover a rare 'black widow' binary, with the shortest orbit yet

Summary by Ground News

The system, which may have originated near the center of the Milky Way, is orbited by a third stellar companion. The system is especially unusual in that it appears to host a third, far-flung star that orbits around the two inner stars every 10,000 years.

3 months ago

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Science Daily

Astronomers discover a rare 'black widow' binary, with the shortest orbit yet

Astronomers discovered a 'black widow binary' -- a rapidly spinning neutron star circling and slowly consuming a smaller companion star. Named ZTF J1406+1222, the pair has the shortest orbital period yet identified, and is unique in that it appears to host a third star that orbits around the two inner stars every 10,000 years.

3 months ago·United States

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Phys.org

Astronomers discover a rare 'black widow' binary, with the shortest orbit yet

The flashing of a nearby star has drawn MIT astronomers to a new and mysterious system 3,000 light years from Earth. The stellar oddity appears to be a new "black widow binary"—a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, that is circling and slowly consuming a smaller companion star, as its arachnid namesake does to its mate.

3 months ago·United Kingdom

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Sci Tech Daily

MIT Astronomers Discover Mysterious “Black Widow” Binary System

The system, which may have originated near the center of the Milky Way, is orbited by a third stellar companion. The flashing of a nearby star has drawn MIT astronomers to a new and mysterious system 3,000 light-years from Earth. The strange stellar oddity appears to be a new “black widow binary”

3 months ago

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UW Homepage

Astronomers discover a rare ’black widow’ binary, with the shortest orbit yet

The flashing of a nearby star drew the attention of a team of astronomers, who discovered that it is part of a rare and mysterious system. As they report in a paper published May 4 in Nature, the...

3 months ago

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