PSR B0943+10 is a pulsar 2,000 light years from Earth ^[2] in the direction of the constellation of Leo. ^[4] It was discovered at Pushchino in December 1968, becoming the first pulsar discovered by Soviet astronomers. ^{[5] [6]} The original designation of this pulsar was PP 0943 ^[1]

Characteristics

The pulsar is estimated to be 5 million years old, which is relatively old for a pulsar. ^[7] It has a rotational period of 1.1 seconds and emits both radio waves and X-rays. ^[8] Ongoing research at the University of Vermont discovered that the pulsar was found to flip roughly every few hours between a radio bright mode with highly organized pulsations and a quieter mode with rather chaotic temporal structure. ^{[9] [10]}

Moreover, the observations of the pulsar performed simultaneously with the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory and ground-based radio telescopes revealed that it exhibits variations in its X-ray emission that mimic in reverse the changes seen in radio waves – the pulsar has a weaker non-pulsing X-ray luminosity during the radio bright mode and is actually brighter during the radio quiet mode emitting distinct X-ray pulses. ^[10] Such changes can only be explained if the pulsar's magnetosphere (which may extend up to 52,000 km from the surface) quickly switches between two extreme states. ^[7] The change happens on a few seconds timescale, far faster than most pulsars. Despite being one of the first pulsars discovered, the mechanism for its unusual behavior is unknown. ^[9]

In 2006, a research group from Peking University published a paper suggesting that the pulsar may actually be a low-mass quark star with mass around 0.02 M_☉. ^[11]

Planetary system

In May 2014, two gas giants were found orbiting PSR B0943+10. ^{[12] [3] [13]}

Notes

References