March 17 () –
Chinese astronomers have identified a peculiar neutron star candidate in a binary system 385 light-years away, which could be the closest and lightest ever known if confirmed.
Researchers from Peking University and the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported the discovery based on observations from LAMOST (Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope) and NOWT (Nanshan 1-meter Wide-field telescope).
The candidate, a dark companion to an ancient star, with only about 0.98 times the solar mass, is supposed to resemble an X-ray dim isolated neutron star (XDINS), but in binary, according to the study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
To date, only seven XDINS have been discovered, peculiar objects with barely detected radio signals. They are nicknamed the Magnificent Seven, between 391 to 1,630 light years away from Earth, reports Xinhua.
Neutron stars were previously believed to have taken shape through core-collapse supernovae, but they tend to have more than 1.17 times the solar mass.
The LAMOST spectral data also implied the presence of a small accretion disk around the neutron star candidate and/or a level of accretion disk activity, according to the study.
The new findings hint that the compact XDINS-like object, quite radioelectric, possibly born in an alternate channel as a white dwarf collapse after it builds upthe researchers said.
