May 25, 2018

Illustration of PSR B1957+20 and its companion

An article published in the journal “Nature” describes a high resolution observation of a pulsar cataloged as PSR B1957+20. A team of astronomers used data collected using the Arecibo radio telescope, obtaining one of the best results in the history of astronomy thanks to the presence of a trail of plasma left by a brown dwarf, a companion of the pulsar in a binary system. According to the astronomers, the lens effect generated suggests that it’s also the cause of fast radio bursts.