The only known pulsar duo sheds new light on general relativity and more
For 16 years, scientists have been observing a one-of-a-kind system of two pulsating dead stars
As they spin, two pulsars (blue circles) emit beams of radiation (yellow), channeled by strong magnetic fields (light blue doughnuts). When the beams sweep past Earth, they appear as metronome-like repeating blips. The two pulsars revealed the effects of the warping of spacetime (represented by the grid, bottom) caused by the pulsars, testing Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
© Michael Kramer/MPIfR