Lightest neutron star pair discovered by FAST
Chinese astronomers using the FAST radio telescope have discovered the lightest binary neutron star system ever recorded. The system, PSR J1856-0039, provides a unique laboratory for studying extreme physics and gravitational theories.
Why it matters
This discovery helps scientists better understand the life cycles of massive stars and the fundamental laws of gravity under extreme density conditions.
China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, or FAST , the world's most sensitive single-dish radio telescope, has discovered a binary neutron star system with an extremely short orbital period and the lowest total mass ever recorded, providing a new laboratory for studying matter under extreme conditions, testing theories of gravity and exploring the origins of heavy elements in the universe.
The system, which contains a pulsar and is named PSR J1856-0039, completes one orbit every 2.36 hours — the second-shortest orbital period ever recorded for a binary neutron star system — and has a combined mass of 2.488 times that of the sun. It is the lightest binary neutron star system confirmed to date, according to findings recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters, which selected the study as an editors' highlight.
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