Astronomers discover a rare 'blackwidow' binary, with the shortest orbit yet MIT nature
circling each other every 62 minutes. The system is unique in that it appears to host a third, far-flung star that orbits around the two inner stars every 10,000 years.
"This system is really unique as far as black widows go, because we found it with visible light, and because of its wide companion, and the fact it came from the galactic center," Burdge says."There's still a lot we don't understand about it. But we have a new way of looking for these systems in the sky."
"These systems are called black widows because of how the pulsar sort of consumes the thing that recycled it, just as the spider eats its mate," Burdge says. "I thought, instead of looking directly for the pulsar, try looking for the star that it's cooking," Burdge explains.
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