A pulsar is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. This radiation can be observed only when a beam of emission is pointing toward Earth, and is responsible for the pulsed appearance of emission. Neutron stars are very dense and have short, regular rotational periods. This produces a very precise interval between pulses that ranges from milliseconds to seconds for an individual pulsar. Pulsars are one of the candidates for the source of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
The Crab Pulsar is a relatively young neutron star. The star is the central star in the Crab Nebula, a remnant of the supernova SN 1054, which was widely observed on Earth in the year 1054. Discovered in 1968, the pulsar was the first to be connected with a supernova remnant.
Centaurus X-3 is an X-ray pulsar with a period of 4.84 seconds. It was the first X-ray pulsar to be discovered, and the third X-ray source to be discovered in the constellation Centaurus. The system consists of a neutron star orbiting a massive, O-type supergiant star dubbed Krzeminski's star after its discoverer, Wojciech Krzemiński. Matter is being accreted from the star onto the neutron star, resulting in X-ray emission.
The Vela Pulsar is a radio, optical, X-ray- and gamma-emitting pulsar associated with the Vela Supernova Remnant in the constellation of Vela. Its parent Type II supernova exploded approximately 11,000–12,300 years ago.
LS I +61 303 is a binary system containing a massive star and a compact object. The compact object is a pulsar and the system is around 7,000 light-years away.
WD 0137-349 is a binary star in the constellation of Sculptor. It is located about 330 light-years away, and appears exceedingly faint with an apparent magnitude of 15.33.
AM Canum Venaticorum is a hydrogen-deficient cataclysmic variable binary star in the constellation of Canes Venatici. It is the type star of its class of variables, the AM Canum Venaticorum stars. The system consists of a white dwarf gaining matter via an accretion disk from a semi-degenerate or white dwarf companion.
AE Aquarii is a cataclysmic variable binary star of the DQ Herculis type. Based upon parallax measurements, the system is located at a distance of about 280 light-years from the Earth. Because of its unique properties, this system has been subject to a number of scientific studies. The white dwarf in the AE Aquarii system is the first star of its type known to give off pulsar-like pulsations that are powered by its rotation and particle acceleration.
PSR J1614–2230 is a pulsar in a binary system with a white dwarf in the constellation Scorpius. It was discovered in 2006 with the Parkes telescope in a survey of unidentified gamma ray sources in the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope catalog. PSR J1614–2230 is a millisecond pulsar, a type of neutron star, that spins on its axis roughly 317 times per second, corresponding to a period of 3.15 milliseconds. Like all pulsars, it emits radiation in a beam, similar to a lighthouse. Emission from PSR J1614–2230 is observed as pulses at the spin period of PSR J1614–2230. The pulsed nature of its emission allows for the arrival of individual pulses to be timed. By measuring the arrival time of pulses, astronomers observed the delay of pulse arrivals from PSR J1614–2230 when it was passing behind its companion from the vantage point of Earth. By measuring this delay, known as the Shapiro delay, astronomers determined the mass of PSR J1614–2230 and its companion. The team performing the observations found that the mass of PSR J1614–2230 is 1.97 ± 0.04 M☉. This mass made PSR J1614–2230 the most massive known neutron star at the time of discovery, and rules out many neutron star equations of state that include exotic matter such as hyperons and kaon condensates.
PSR J0348+0432 is a pulsar–white dwarf binary system in the constellation Taurus. It was discovered in 2007 with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in a drift-scan survey.
TW Pictoris is a 14th magnitude cataclysmic variable star system in the southern constellation of Pictor. It is located at a distance of approximately 1,430 light-years based on parallax measurements. Photometric observations in the visual band suggest a binary system with an orbital period of 6.06 hours. One of the components is an accreting white dwarf.
ADS 7251 is a binary star system 6.33 parsecs from the Sun. The components are near-identical red dwarfs separated by 17″ in 2019.
HP Lyrae is a variable star in the constellation Lyra, with a visual magnitude varying between 10.2 and 10.8. It is likely to be an RV Tauri variable, an unstable post-AGB star losing mass before becoming a white dwarf.
S Cassiopeiae is a Mira variable and S-type star in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is an unusually cool star, rapidly losing mass and surrounded by dense gas and dust producing masers.
WR 86 is a visual binary in the constellation Scorpius consisting of a Wolf-Rayet star and a β Cephei variable. It lies 2° west of NGC 6357 on the edge of the Great Rift in the Milky Way in the tail of the Scorpion.
DY Centauri is a variable star in the constellation Centaurus. From its brightness, it is estimated to be 7000 parsecs (23000 light-years) away from Earth.
CN Andromedae is an eclipsing binary star in the constellation Andromeda. Its maximum apparent visual magnitude is 9.62 and drops down to a minimum of 10.2 during the main eclipse. It is classified as a Beta Lyrae variable with a period roughly of 0.4628 days.
V455 Andromedae is a dwarf nova in the constellation Andromeda. It has a typical apparent visual magnitude of 16.5, but reached a magnitude of 8.5 during the only observed outburst.
HD 74423 is a heartbeat binary star and one component pulsates on only one hemisphere. This is caused by tidal interaction with its partner. The star is located in the Volans constellation.
V705 Cassiopeiae, also known as Nova Cassiopeiae 1993 was a nova which erupted in the constellation Cassiopeia during 1993. The nova was discovered at 11:17 UT on 7 December 1993 by amateur astronomer Kazuyoshi Kanatsu of Matsue, Japan, who photographed it using a 35mm camera with a 55mm f/2.8 lens. Asteroid 6976 Kanatsu was named after him in honor of this discovery. At the time of its discovery the nova had a photographic magnitude of 6.5. Around December 18, 1993, it flared briefly to magnitude 5.3, and then it returned rapidly to magnitude 6.5. It underwent a series of smaller flares until mid February 1993, after which it began a precipitous decline in brightness.
