Pulsars are one of the most extreme objects in the creation , packing the mass of the Sun into a flyspeck radius – an average of around 20 kilometer ( 12 miles ) – and can spin on their axis hundreds of times per second .
Well , that ’s what they unremarkably do . But uranologist have now confirm the discovery of the slowest pulsar yet , which leisurely rotates once every 6.67 hr .
This pulsar , known as 1E 161348–5055 , or 1E 1613 for short , is the compact target at the centre of RCW 103 , a supernova remnant about 10,000 short - geezerhood from the Solar System . uranologist are certain that the object is indeed a pulsar , a spinning neutron star that let out radio set undulation in beat , but its long and strange rotation period is an unexplained mystery story .
Researchers have put forth two solutions . Either 1E 1613 is orbiting around a comrade star and we are seeing a combined effect , or there are some mechanisms that are slowing it down quicker than expect . stargazer guess that the supernova get going off about 2,000 years ago and that ’s not enough clip for a pulsar to retard down this much simply by losing get-up-and-go .
A likely hint to solving this mystery came in June when the pulsar emitted a short decade - electron beam burst detected byNASA ’s Swiftobservatory . The reservoir look to be very similar to a magnetar , a type of pulsar with a magnetic line of business hundreds of million of time stronger than Earth ’s , making 1E 1613 the thirtieth magnetar ever discovered .
Magnetars rotate around their bloc in about 10 second so this does n’t really work the mystery . But in the paper , release in theAstrophysical Journal Letters , the researcher lead by Nanda Rea from the University of Amsterdam argue that the slow up down mechanics could be induce by material from the supernova being catch by the strong magnetized field and falling back onto the pulsar .
Another group has confirm the determination of Rea ’s team in a theme availableonlineand accepted for publishing in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . More observations are necessary , but researcher are confident that we can happen out why 1E 1613 is so slow .
" We will keep monitoring the source in the X - ray to pin down the accurate twisting - down , " Rea order IFLScience .
" We ’ll keep observing it in the infrared band to look for any sign of this material still around and possibly in the millimeter lot in the good future with the same intention . "
