An Odd Parasite Star

Not only worms can be parasites. But stars, too. A pulsar (dead spinning star) has been discovered swallowing material from its companion star, dwindling it until the latter becomes an object smaller than many common planets."This object is merely the skeleton of a star. The pulsar has eaten ... [ read more >> ]

An artist's depiction shows the planet-mass object (SWIFT J1756.9-2508)in the foreground with a pulsar (upper right), which is tidally distorting the companion into a teardrop-shaped object, and ripping gas from it

Image comment: An artist's depiction shows the planet-mass object (SWIFT J1756.9-2508)in the foreground with a pulsar (upper right), which is tidally distorting the companion into a teardrop-shaped object, and ripping gas from it
Image credits: Aurore Simonnet/Sonoma State University

An artist's depiction shows the planet-mass object (SWIFT J1756.9-2508)in the foreground with a pulsar (upper right), which is tidally distorting the companion into a teardrop-shaped object, and ripping gas from it
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