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Millisecond pulsars in globular cluster 47 Tucanae

Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars that emit electromagnetic radiation in a sweeping, lighthouse-like beam. They are dramatic, powerful probes of supernovae, their progenitor stars. Astronomers have measured the orbital parameters of four millisecond pulsars in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae and modelled their possible formation and evolution paths.

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Discovery of white dwarf companions of millisecond pulsars

When a massive star ends its life in a spectacular supernova explosion, it can leave behind a rapidly spinning neutron star with a period of 1-10 milliseconds. Such objects that emit electromagnetic radiation in a lighthouse-like beam sweeping past the Earth are known as millisecond pulsars. CfA astronomers have identified white dwarf companions of two more millisecond pulsars in the spectacular globular cluster 47 Tucanae.