MeerKAT uncovers a mysterious object at the boundary between black holes and neutron starsAn international team of astronomers, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, have used the MeerKAT radio telescope to discover an intriguing object of an unknown nature in the globular cluster NGC 1851. The massive object is heavier than the heaviest neutron stars known and yet simultaneously lighter than the lightest black holes known and is in orbit around a rapidly spinning millisecond pulsar. This could be the first discovery of the much-coveted radio pulsar - black hole binary; a stellar pairing that would allow new tests of Einstein’s general relativity.
more