'Quiet' pulsar suddenly reveals three glitches in 15 years of observations
Astronomers have observed three rotational glitches in a 41,000-year-old pulsar, PSR J1637−4642, which had previously remained quiet for over a decade. This discovery provides new data on the internal physics of neutron stars and how they transfer angular momentum.
Why it matters
Studying pulsar glitches helps scientists understand the extreme physical conditions and superfluid states inside neutron stars.
edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Using more than 15 years of observations from the Parkes radio telescope, astronomers detected three rotational glitches in the pulsar PSR J1637−4642—a young neutron star that had shown no signs of glitches since its discovery. The three glitches included one that changed its rotation rate by nearly 3 parts per million. Their paper was posted to the arXiv preprint server on Aug. 20. It has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters .
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