Scientists have discovered a new, unidentified object in our galaxy that is lighter than known black holes but heavier than the heaviest neutron stars.
The possibly new kind of space entity was discovered in our galaxy 40,000 light years away, and it seems to have special characteristics.
Because it lies inside what scientists refer to as the “black hole mass gap,” this formation is uncommon and poorly understood.
It may be the first known pairing of a pulsar and black hole. It was discovered orbiting a millisecond pulsar, a neutron (collapsed) star that spins hundreds of times per second and pulses radiation.
Such a merger makes it possible to test Einstein’s general theory of relativity once more and provides access to additional black hole research.
An “important target for testing theories of gravity” is a pulsar-black hole system, according to UK project lead Ben Stappers.
Meanwhile, if it turns out to be a heavy neutron star, it “will provide new insights in nuclear physics at very high densities”, he continued.
The extremely dense remnants of a dead star known as neutron stars collapse when they gather too much mass, though some theorize that they may then turn into black holes.
It is believed that a neutron star needs 2.2 times the mass of the sun to collapse.
