CosmoView Episode 39: Cosmic 'Spider' Found to Be Source of Powerful Gamma-Rays (VIDEO)

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Caption

Using the 4.1-meter SOAR Telescope in Chile, astronomers have discovered the first example of a binary system where a star in the process of becoming a white dwarf is orbiting a neutron star that has just finished turning into a rapidly spinning pulsar. The pair, originally detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, is a "missing link" in the evolution of such binary systems.

Credit

Images and Videos: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine/CTIO/SOAR/J. P. Burgos/NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR)/Caltech/IPAC Acknowledgment: M. Zamani (NSF's NOIRLab) Music: Stellardrone - Airglow

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