Chinese astronomers have uncovered the likely origins of a young pulsar located in the halo of the Milky Way, offering significant observational evidence for understanding how such celestial objects are formed.
The findings, published recently in the Astrophysical Journal, were made by researchers from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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Using long-term observational data collected from China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), known as the “China Sky Eye,” along with the 26-meter Nanshan Radio Telescope, the scientists monitored subtle positional changes of the young pulsar PSR J1740+1000. By combining the data with distance measurements, the team estimated the pulsar’s spatial velocity at 329±80 km per second.
Researchers believe the pulsar likely originated directly in the galactic halo and may be the descendant of a “runaway” OB star — a massive star violently expelled from its birthplace during a dramatic cosmic event.
The team also detected multi-layered adjacent scintillation arc structures in the pulsar’s radio signals for the first time using combined data from FAST and Australia’s Parkes radio telescope. Further analysis suggested the arcs were produced by ionized structures within the pulsar’s wind nebula, opening new possibilities for studying circumstellar and interstellar environments through pulsar signals.