A pulsar-helium star compact binary system formed by common envelope evolution
A stellar common envelope occurs in a binary system when the atmosphere of an evolving star expands to encompass an orbiting companion object. Such systems are predicted to evolve rapidly, ejecting the stellar envelope and leaving the companion in a tighter orbit around a stripped star. We used radio timing to identify a pulsar, PSR J1928+1815, with a spin period of 10.55 ms in a compact binary system with an orbital period of 3.60 hours. The companion star has 1.0 to 1.6 solar masses, eclipses the pulsar for about 17% of the orbit, and is undetected at other wavelengths, so it is most likely a stripped helium star. We interpret this system as having recently undergone a common envelope phase, producing a compact binary.
Authors
- J. L. Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9274-3092)
- Ya-Ni Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5100-7076)
- Z. L. Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6590-1540)
- C. F. Zhang
- Daqi Yu
- Wen‐Cong Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0785-5349)
- W. J. Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5546-8549)
- Renxin Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9042-3044)
- Tie‐Gang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5832-0272)
- Jin-Long Xu
- L. G. Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7986-5458)
- Song Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3116-5038)
- L. H. Li
- D. J. Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6423-6106)
- Heng Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5031-8098)
- W. Q. Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2212-4792)
- Jinghai Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8123-8293)
- W. C. Jing (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1056-5895)
- Jinchen Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6465-0091)
- Bo Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3231-1167)
- Z. S. Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0009-5949)
- Hongwei Ge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6398-0195)
- Yong Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2506-6906)
- W. M. Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7662-3875)
- Bojun Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9434-4773)
- H. G. Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2044-5184)
- Xiang‐Dong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0584-8145)
- Jingbo Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9782-1603)
- Na Wang
- Yi Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1612-9948)
- Jifeng Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2874-2706)
- Chenwei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0920-8639)
- Peng Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3527-8520)
- X. P. You
- Shuangqiang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4498-6070)
- Piao Wang
Institutions
- Southwest University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (CN)
- Yunnan Observatories (CN)
- Guangzhou University (CN)
- Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)
- National Astronomical Observatories (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Qingdao University of Technology (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2025-05-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ado0769
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 12.70
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Smithsonian Institution
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Johns Hopkins University
- Space Telescope Science Institute
- Queen's University Belfast
- Durham University
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Queen's University
- National Central University
- Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
- Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
- Science Mission Directorate
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Planetary Science Division
- Los Alamos National Laboratory