Pulsars emit high-intensity radio radiation into a narrow beam. As the pulsar rotates, this beam moves in and out of our line of sight. Hence, we see periodic bursts of radio radiation. In this sense, a pulsar works like a lighthouse, in which the light may be on all the time, but it appears to blink on and off. Scientists were surprised to find that the B pulsar is on only at certain locations in its orbit. “It’s as though something is turning B on and off,” Jenet said.
According to Jenet and Ransom, this “something” is closely related to the radio emission beam emanating from the A pulsar. They believe that B becomes bright when it is illuminated by emission from A. Jenet and Ransom used Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity to predict the future evolution of this pulsar system. The theory implies that gravitational effects will change the emission pattern of A, which will then alter the exact orbital locations where B becomes bright.
The double pulsar system is located about 2,000 light years, or 10 million billion miles, from Earth. Jenet and Ransom based their research on observations made at the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia.
From a NASA press release.
… the letters ‘A’ and ‘B’. This epsidode is also brought to you by the number 0000 0001. Tomorrows episode will feature sponsorship by the letters ‘X’ and ‘Y’. Also, we were are trying to get sponsorship from the number… wait for it! … wait for it!! … 0000 0010!!! Woohoo high intensity radio radiation here we come.
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…have you been chewing on too many Chernobyl artifacts?
What makes you say that..? I’m from Chernobyl… Just kidding… Is it that obvious? Yeah, I have the artifacts shipped in express when I run out of them. How’d you know?? Must have been a lucky guess.