A Radio Pulsar Spinning at 716 Hz | Zendy

J. W. T. Hessels | Zendy; S. M. Ransom | Zendy; I. H. Stairs | Zendy; P. C. C. Freire | Zendy; V. M. Kaspi | Zendy; F. Camilo | Zendy

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A Radio Pulsar Spinning at 716 Hz

Author(s) -

J. W. T. Hessels,

S. M. Ransom,

I. H. Stairs,

P. C. C. Freire,

V. M. Kaspi,

F. Camilo

Publication year - 2006

Publication title -

science

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 12.556

H-Index - 1186

eISSN - 1095-9203

pISSN - 0036-8075

DOI - 10.1126/science.1123430

Subject(s) - pulsar , physics , neutron star , astrophysics , x ray pulsar , astronomy , millisecond pulsar , binary pulsar , radius , globular cluster , gravitational wave , pulsar planet , radio telescope , stars , computer security , computer science

We have discovered a 716-hertz eclipsing binary radio pulsar in the globular cluster Terzan 5 using the Green Bank Telescope. It is the fastest spinning neutron star found to date, breaking the 24-year record held by the 642-hertz pulsar B1937+21. The difficulty in detecting this pulsar, because of its very low flux density and high eclipse fraction (approximately 40% of the orbit), suggests that even faster spinning neutron stars exist. If the pulsar has a mass less than twice the mass of the Sun, then its radius must be constrained by the spin rate to be <16 kilometers. The short period of this pulsar also constrains models that suggest that gravitational radiation, through an r-mode (Rossby wave) instability, limits the maximum spin frequency of neutron stars.

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