Abstract
WE report the discovery of two radio pulsars, 2127 + 11B and 2127-11C, in the globular cluster M15 (NGC7078), which also contains the 110-ms pulsar 2127 + 11A (ref. 1). Although only twenty globular cluster pulsars are known at present, the detection of three pulsars in a single cluster suggests that there might be a large total population of these objects, which would make them powerful probes of the dynamics and evolution of globular clusters. One of the new pulsars, 2127 +11C, is in a highly eccentric binary system with an 8-hour period. It is thus similar to the famous PSR1913 + 16 system2, and study of the pulse arrival times can be expected to provide tests of general relativity, including gravitational wave emission. The companion of PSR2127 + 11C is probably either another neutron star or a massive white dwarf, suggesting that the core of M15 contains a high density of massive stellar remnants.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wolszczan, A. et al. Nature 337, 531–533 (1989).
Fox, G. C. et al. Solving Problems on Concurrent Processors (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1988).
Taylor, J. H. & Weisberg, J. M. Astrophys. J. 253, 908–920 (1989).
Kulkarni, S. R., Narayan, R. & Romani, R. W. Astrophys. J. 356, 174–183 (1990).
Cordes, J. M. & Dewey, R. J. Radio Wave Scattering in the Interstellar Medium 217–221 (Am. Inst. Phys., New York, 1988).
Dewey, R. J. & Cordes, J. M. Astrophys. J. 321, 780–798 (1987).
Verbunt, F. & Hut, P. in The Origin and Evolution of Neutron Stars, IAU Symp. 125 (eds Helfand, D. J. & Huang, J. H.) 187–197 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986).
Michel, F. C. Nature 329, 310–312 (1987).
Chanmugam, G. & Brecher, K. Nature 329, 696–698 (1987).
Bailyn, C. D. & Grindlay, J. E. Astrophys. J. 353, 159–167 (1990).
Verbunt, F., van Paradijs, J. & Lewin, W. G. H. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 241, 51–57 (1989).
Chernoff, D. & Weinberg, M. Astrophys. J. 351, 121–156 (1990).
Verbunt, F., van den Heuvel, E. P. J., van Paradijs, J. & Rappaport, S. A. Nature 329, 312–314 (1987).
Romani, R. W., Kulkarni, S. R. & Blandford, R. D. Nature 329, 309–310 (1987).
Rappaport, S., Putney, A. & Verbunt, F. Astrophys. J. 345, 210–221 (1989).
Shawl, S. J. & White, R. E. Astr. J. 91, 312–316 (1986).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Anderson, S., Gorham, P., Kulkarni, S. et al. Discovery of two radio pulsars in the globular cluster M15. Nature 346, 42–44 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/346042a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/346042a0
This article is cited by
-
Millisecond Pulsars, their Evolution and Applications
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy (2017)
-
Short gamma-ray bursts from binary neutron star mergers in globular clusters
Nature Physics (2006)
-
A short γ-ray burst apparently associated with an elliptical galaxy at redshift z = 0.225
Nature (2005)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.