The lightest neutron star known may have been produced by a type II supernova

The PSR J0453+1559 pulsar was discovered in 2015, it is remarkable because it is a rare binary system composed of two neutron stars. What made PSR J0453+1559 even more surprising are the masses of neutron stars. While the first star has a mass of 1,559 solar masses, the second one reaches only 1.174M, making it the smallest neutron star known, a mass so small that it is difficult to explain. A team of astrophysicists performed simulations and ma…