Abstract
IN the past four years a total of 13 millisecond pulsars have been found in 12 different globular clusters. These pulsars are believed to be old neutron stars that have been spun up ('recycled') in low-mass X-ray binary systems1 although some may have been formed by the accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs in binaries2. The globular cluster 47 Tucanae has an especially dense core, and is therefore a likely site for millisecond pulsar formation. Using the Parkes radiotelescope, we have now detected ten addi-tional millisecond pulsars in 47 Tuc, more than half of which are members of binary systems. Almost half of the known millisecond pulsars and more than a quarter of the known binary pulsars now reside in this one cluster.
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Manchester, R., Lyne, A., Robinson, C. et al. Discovery of ten millisecond pulsars in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Nature 352, 219–221 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/352219a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/352219a0
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