A new millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster GLIMPSE-C01

Posted on December 30, 2023 • 2 minutes • 226 words

Astronomers have discovered a new millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster GLIMPSE-C01. According to the research results published on the preprint server arXiv , this is the first such object in this cluster.

A pulsar is a rotating neutron star with intense magnetic fields that emits symmetrical beams of narrow-directed electromagnetic radiation, similar to a lighthouse. The fastest rotating pulsars with rotation periods of less than 30 milliseconds are known as millisecond pulsars (MSP). Astronomers hypothesize that they form in binary systems when the initially more massive component transforms into a neutron star, which then spins up due to the accretion of matter from the secondary star.

Researchers conducted a search for pulsars in a sample of 97 globular clusters. The strongest candidate turned out to be a source in GLIMPSE-C01, located approximately 10,760 light-years from Earth. The newly discovered pulsar, designated GLIMPSE-C01A, has a rotation period of 19.78 milliseconds and a dispersion measure, indicating the amount of electrons in the line of sight between Earth and the pulsar, of 491.1 parsecs per cubic centimeter.

The characteristic age of this pulsar is estimated to be 100 million years. The presence of a strong magnetic field at the level of one billion gauss is also suggested, as the pulsar has a higher luminosity in hard X-ray radiation (2-10 kilo-electron volts) than most such objects in globular clusters.