Science · Earlier selection
A star caught feeding on its neighbour
An X-ray observatory has tracked gas falling towards a pulsar, giving astronomers a closer look at how these tiny, dense stars fuel their flares.
NASA reports that XRISM observations of the BP Crucis system, roughly 13,000 light-years away, revealed gas moving towards the pulsar at about 540,000 kilometres an hour. The findings were published on 18 September; the observations were made in February 2025.
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NASA ↗ (opens a new tab)Research announcement; the illustration is a concept, not telescope imagery.
AI-assisted original summary, checked against the linked source on 18 Sept 2026, 23:48 BST. Illustration is AI generated and does not document the event.
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