Using the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST), astronomers have detected a glitch in the radio pulsar PSR J0908−4913. The finding, detailed in a paper published December 18 on the arXiv preprint server, could be helpful in shedding more light on the properties and nature of this pulsar.
Extraterrestrial sources of radiation with a regular periodicity, known as pulsars, are usually detected in the form of short bursts of radio emission. Radio pulsars are generally described as highly magnetised, rapidly rotating neutron stars with a lighthouse beam of radiation that produces the pulsed emission.
Glitches are sudden changes of the pulsar’s spin rate. The exact cause of the glitches is still unknown, however, they are believed to be caused by an internal process within the pulsar. The most popular hypotheses suggest that the glitches can originate from either a transfer of angular momentum from the core to the crust via the unpinning of superfluid vortices or cracking of the star’s crust. Identifying and studying new glitches could therefore be crucial to improve our understanding of their origin and the nature of pulsars in general.
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