Australian scientists said that the luminous object once considered to be a distant galaxy may actually be the brightest pulsar known outside the Milky way, which is 10 times brighter than any pulsar outside the Milky way. The relevant research was recently published in the Journal of astrophysics express.
The pulsar, PSR j0523-7125, is about 160000 light-years away from earth. It is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy orbiting the Milky Way galaxy. Its width is twice that of any other pulsar in the region.
The main author of the latest study and the research team of the Commonwealth Scientific and industrial research organization of Australia used the square kilometer array Pathfinder (askap) radio telescope in Western Australia to measure the polarization pulse emission in the sky. Finally, it was found that its brightness is about 10 times that of any other extragalactic pulsar previously observed. This abnormal brightness explains why after the object was first detected, It was mistaken for a galaxy.
The researchers said that the light beam of PSR j0523-7125 is wider than usual, which makes it more difficult to find. They found the pulsar through polarization data. Polarization means that the electromagnetic wave of light rotates in a circular motion when it moves in space. Because the magnetic field of pulsar is very extreme, it will produce highly polarized light. Most instruments are difficult to distinguish it from ordinary light, and askap can do it. Since then, with the help of the data provided by the meerkat telescope, they confirmed that it was a pulsar.
