{ "id": 11567, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11567/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "PSR J1023, A 'Transformer' Pulsar—Animations", "description": "Pulsar J1023 is a member of an exceptional binary system containing a rapidly spinning neutron star. In June 2013, the pulsar underwent a dramatic change in behavior never before observed. Its radio beacon vanished, while at the same time the system brightened significantly in gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light.The stellar system, known as AY Sextantis and located about 4,400 light-years away in the constellation Sextans, pairs a 1.7-millisecond pulsar named PSR J1023+0038 — J1023 for short — with a star containing about one-fifth the mass of the sun. The stars complete an orbit in only 4.8 hours, which places them so close together that a high-energy \"wind\" of charged particles from the pulsar is gradually evaporating its companion. What's happening, astronomers say, are the last sputtering throes of the pulsar spin-up process, where a flow of matter from the companion has, over millions of years, dramatically increased the pulsar's rotation. J1023 now spins at about 35,000 rpm, but the gas stream from the companion is no longer continuous. Researchers regard the system as a unique laboratory for understanding how millisecond pulsars form and for studying details of how accretion takes place on neutron stars. || ", "release_date": "2014-07-22T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:43.833061-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 454411, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011500/a011567/transformerBinary_v080_shot1_60fps.0484.jpg", "filename": "transformerBinary_v080_shot1_60fps.0484.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This animation illustrates one possible model for the dramatic changes observed from J1023. The two stars of AY Sextantis orbit closely enough that a stream of gas flows from the sun-like star toward the pulsar. The pulsar's rapid rotation and intense magnetic field produce both the radio beam and the high-energy wind, which is eroding its companion. When the radio beam (green) is detectable, the pulsar wind holds back the companion's gas stream, preventing it from approaching too closely. Now and then the stream surges, reaches toward the pulsar and establishes an accretion disk. Processes involved in producing the radio beam are either shut down or, more likely, obscured. Meanwhile, some of the gas falling toward the pulsar may be accelerated outward at nearly the speed of light, forming dual particle jets firing in opposite directions. Shock waves within and along the periphery of these jets are a likely source of the bright gamma-ray emission (magenta) detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 }, "main_video": { "id": 454400, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011500/a011567/Transformer_Pulsar_Shot_1_ProRes_1920x1080_59.94.webmhd.webm", "filename": "Transformer_Pulsar_Shot_1_ProRes_1920x1080_59.94.webmhd.webm", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This animation illustrates one possible model for the dramatic changes observed from J1023. The two stars of AY Sextantis orbit closely enough that a stream of gas flows from the sun-like star toward the pulsar. The pulsar's rapid rotation and intense magnetic field produce both the radio beam and the high-energy wind, which is eroding its companion. When the radio beam (green) is detectable, the pulsar wind holds back the companion's gas stream, preventing it from approaching too closely. Now and then the stream surges, reaches toward the pulsar and establishes an accretion disk. Processes involved in producing the radio beam are either shut down or, more likely, obscured. Meanwhile, some of the gas falling toward the pulsar may be accelerated outward at nearly the speed of light, forming dual particle jets firing in opposite directions. Shock waves within and along the periphery of these jets are a likely source of the bright gamma-ray emission (magenta) detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 960, "height": 540, "pixels": 518400 }, "main_credits": { "Visualizations by": [ { "name": "Cruz deWilde", "employer": "Avant Gravity" } ] }, "progress": "Complete", "media_groups": [ { "id": 344640, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11567/#media_group_344640", "widget": "Basic text with HTML", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Pulsar J1023 is a member of an exceptional binary system containing a rapidly spinning neutron star. In June 2013, the pulsar underwent a dramatic change in behavior never before observed. Its radio beacon vanished, while at the same time the system brightened significantly in gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light.

The stellar system, known as AY Sextantis and located about 4,400 light-years away in the constellation Sextans, pairs a 1.7-millisecond pulsar named PSR J1023+0038 — J1023 for short — with a star containing about one-fifth the mass of the sun. The stars complete an orbit in only 4.8 hours, which places them so close together that a high-energy \"wind\" of charged particles from the pulsar is gradually evaporating its companion.

What's happening, astronomers say, are the last sputtering throes of the pulsar spin-up process, where a flow of matter from the companion has, over millions of years, dramatically increased the pulsar's rotation. J1023 now spins at about 35,000 rpm, but the gas stream from the companion is no longer continuous. Researchers regard the system as a unique laboratory for understanding how millisecond pulsars form and for studying details of how accretion takes place on neutron stars.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 344641, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11567/#media_group_344641", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "This animation illustrates one possible model for the dramatic changes observed from J1023. The two stars of AY Sextantis orbit closely enough that a stream of gas flows from the sun-like star toward the pulsar. The pulsar's rapid rotation and intense magnetic field produce both the radio beam and the high-energy wind, which is eroding its companion. When the radio beam (green) is detectable, the pulsar wind holds back the companion's gas stream, preventing it from approaching too closely. Now and then the stream surges, reaches toward the pulsar and establishes an accretion disk. Processes involved in producing the radio beam are either shut down or, more likely, obscured. Meanwhile, some of the gas falling toward the pulsar may be accelerated outward at nearly the speed of light, forming dual particle jets firing in opposite directions. Shock waves within and along the periphery of these jets are a likely source of the bright gamma-ray emission (magenta) detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

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When the radio beam (green) is detectable, the pulsar wind holds back the companion's gas stream, preventing it from approaching too closely. Now and then the stream surges, reaches toward the pulsar and establishes an accretion disk. Processes involved in producing the radio beam are either shut down or, more likely, obscured. Meanwhile, some of the gas falling toward the pulsar may be accelerated outward at nearly the speed of light, forming dual particle jets firing in opposite directions. 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Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 304205, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 454419, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011500/a011567/11567_Transformer_Pulsar_Shot_2_MPEG4_1920x1080_29.97.mp4", "filename": "11567_Transformer_Pulsar_Shot_2_MPEG4_1920x1080_29.97.mp4", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This animation sequence places the camera closer to the pulsar and tracks the stars, highlighting the accretion disk and formation of the particle jets. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 304206, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 454413, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011500/a011567/transformerBinary_v081_shot2_60fps.1579.tif", "filename": "transformerBinary_v081_shot2_60fps.1579.tif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This animation sequence places the camera closer to the pulsar and tracks the stars, highlighting the accretion disk and formation of the particle jets. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 304208, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 454412, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011500/a011567/Transformer_Pulsar_Shot_2_ProRes_1920x1080_59.94.webmhd.webm", "filename": "Transformer_Pulsar_Shot_2_ProRes_1920x1080_59.94.webmhd.webm", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This animation sequence places the camera closer to the pulsar and tracks the stars, highlighting the accretion disk and formation of the particle jets. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 960, "height": 540, "pixels": 518400 } } ], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "NASA Astrophysics" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Animator", "people": [ { "name": "Cruz deWilde", "employer": "Avant Gravity" } ] }, { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Writer", "people": [ { "name": "Francis Reddy", "employer": "Syneren Technologies" } ] } ], "missions": [], "series": [ "Astrophysics Animations" ], "tapes": [ "Transformer Pulsar (Produced by: Robert Crippen)" ], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Universe" ], "keywords": [ "Ast", "Astrophysics", "Binary Star", "Earth Science", "Gamma Ray", "Neutron Star", "Pulsar", "Space", "Spectral/Engineering", "Star", "X-ray" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 11609, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11609/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA's Fermi Catches a 'Transformer' Pulsar", "description": "In late June 2013, an exceptional binary system containing a rapidly spinning neutron star underwent a dramatic change in behavior never before observed. The pulsar's radio beacon vanished, while at the same time the system brightened fivefold in gamma rays, the most powerful form of light, according to measurements by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.The system, known as AY Sextantis, is located about 4,400 light-years away in the constellation Sextans. It pairs a 1.7-millisecond pulsar named PSR J1023+0038 — J1023 for short — with a star containing about one-fifth the mass of the sun. The stars complete an orbit in only 4.8 hours, which places them so close together that the pulsar will gradually evaporate its companion. To better understand J1023's spin and orbital evolution, the system was routinely monitored in radio. These observations revealed that the pulsar's radio signal had turned off and prompted the search for an associated change in its gamma-ray properties.What's happening, astronomers say, are the last sputtering throes of the pulsar spin-up process. Researchers regard the system as a unique laboratory for understanding how millisecond pulsars form and for studying details of how accretion takes place on neutron stars. In J1023, the stars are close enough that a stream of gas flows from the sun-like star toward the pulsar. The pulsar's rapid rotation and intense magnetic field are responsible for both the radio beam and its powerful pulsar wind. When the radio beam is detectable, the pulsar wind holds back the companion's gas stream, preventing it from approaching too closely. But now and then the stream surges, pushing its way closer to the pulsar and establishing an accretion disk. When gas from the disk falls to an altitude of about 50 miles (80 km), processes involved in creating the radio beam are either shut down or, more likely, obscured. Some of the gas may be accelerated outward at nearly the speed of light, forming dual particle jets firing in opposite directions. Shock waves within and along the periphery of these jets are a likely source of the bright gamma-ray emission detected by Fermi. || ", "release_date": "2014-07-22T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:44.050104-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 453317, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011600/a011609/transformerBinary_4196.jpg", "filename": "transformerBinary_4196.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Narrated video. Zoom into an artist's rendering of AY Sextantis, a binary star system whose pulsar switched from radio emissions to high-energy gamma rays in 2013. This transition likely means the pulsar's spin-up process is nearing its end.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }