Abstract
HERE we present timing measurements of the pulsar, PSR 1820–11, which show it to be in a binary system with a wide and highly eccentric orbit. This combination of orbital characteristics has not been seen before and presents difficulties for conventional evolutionary scenarios1-4. Pending future measurements of the periastron advance, we cannot place any firm constraints on the nature of the pulsar's companion but we expect it to be another neutron star. Such a binary pulsar might provide further observational evidence for asymmetric supernova explosions in wide binary systems5.
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Lyne, A., McKenna, J. PSR 1820–11: a binary pulsar in a wide and highly eccentric orbit. Nature 340, 367–369 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/340367a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/340367a0
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