A new representative of the category of stars has been found in the Milky Way — no more than 18 are known.
The object was named MAXI J1816-195, it is located at a distance of no more than 30,000 light-years from Earth. Preliminary observations and studies show that this is an accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar. According to the pulsar database, there are only 18 of them.
X-ray light emanating from the object was first recorded on June 7 using the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) device.
Using the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory space telescope, astrophysicist Jamie Kenny from Penn State University and his colleagues determined the location of the object.
The NICER X—ray device recorded X-ray pulsations with a frequency of 528.6 Hz – he assumed that the object rotates at a speed of 528.6 times per second. NICER also detected a thermonuclear X-ray burst. This was due to the unstable thermonuclear burning of the material that the companion star had accumulated.
As a result, the team found out that MAXI J1816-195 is a neutron star and an accreting millisecond X—ray pulsar.