2024-01-19 14:46:00
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19.01.2024 17:46, Gennady Detinich
A team of astronomers from the University of Manchester discovered on the edge of our galaxy is an object that scientists have found difficult to identify. The find is dim and not visible through conventional telescopes. It was possible to find the mysterious something by observing the pulsar in whose orbit the object is located. The problem is that the mass of the unknown object is beyond our knowledge of neutron stars and black holes. Both of them have never encountered such a mass before.
An artist’s impression of a binary system of a pulsar and a black hole. Image source: Daniëlle Futselaar
Why is it important? If the mysterious object turns out to be a neutron star, it will open the way to new physics. Its mass lies in the range of 2.09–2.71 solar masses. Theoretically, a neutron star cannot be heavier than 2.3 solar masses, but at the upper end of the range of discoveries there are either no such objects or they are of little confidence. As far as we understand the physics of the process, heavier neutron stars collapse into black holes. If such stars exist, then processes occur there that we do not know regarding, up to and including the existence of some other elementary particles.
On the other hand, we have not yet discovered black holes with masses less than 5 solar ones, and with confirmation of discoveries in the lower part of the mass range of these objects, everything is also not clear. Therefore, if the mysterious object turns out to be a black hole, it will be the lightest black hole ever observed. This will not destroy the foundations of physics, but will provide food for many scientific theories.
Scientists have no doubt regarding the reliability of the parameters of the object they discovered. It was discovered in the orbit of the pulsar PSR J0514-4002E, which emits ultrashort radio pulses (millisecond duration), and this made it possible to calculate with the highest accuracy the mass of the system and the mass of each of the objects: the pulsar and it is not yet clear what.
Simulation of the probable configuration of a mysterious binary system. Image source: OzGrav, Swinburne University of Technology
The system is located in the star cluster NGC 1851, approximately 54 thousand light years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The data was collected by the MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa. The unknown body completes one orbital revolution in 7.44 days. Scientists intend to make every effort to find out its nature. Regardless of the identification of the object, the discovery promises to be significant for science.
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