Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), a Chinese research team led by the National Astronomical Observatories discovered pulsar J1856−0039, part of an extraordinarily compact binary neutron star system.

Published in Physical Review Letters, the discovery reveals an orbital period of just 2.36 hours the second-shortest known and a record-low combined mass of 2.488 solar masses.

With its companion star near the theoretical minimum mass, this system provides a rare natural laboratory to test general relativity, examine supernova mechanics, and understand the cosmic origin of heavy elements like gold and platinum before the stars merge in roughly 82 million years.

Source: People’s Daily