Astronomers have discovered a new millisecond pulsar in the Milky Way

The universe contains many celestial objects that fascinate scientists. And recently, a team of astronomers has discovered a new pulsar in the Milky Way that rotates at high speed.

As a reminder, pulsars are neutron stars with a diameter of about 20 km and a mass about 1.5 times that of the Sun. Due to their extreme density, they spin at high speeds, such as PSR J1748-2446ad, which is located about 18,000 light-years from Earth and rotates 716 times per second.

However, this new pulsar, which has recently been discovered by astronomers, rotates more slowly. Indeed, named PSR J0125−5854, it was detected using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). According to Chia Min Tan of Curtin University in Bentley, Australia, and lead author of the study, this celestial object has a rotation period of 24.6 milliseconds.

This pulsar is estimated to be between 1,600 and 3,200 light-years from Earth and is believed to be part of a binary system composed of a white dwarf with a mass equivalent to 0.41 times that of the Sun. However, although this pulsar is the first to have been discovered by the MWA, further studies will be needed to better understand its properties.