Jan 10 2001
From The Space Library
At the American Astronomical Society convention, astronomers Victoria M. Kaspi and Mallory E. Roberts of McGill University presented evidence dating a known pulsar to 386 AD. Because scientists consider it quite difficult to determine the age of particular pulsars or of any astronomical body, the scientific community regarded the find as especially significant. The researchers had used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to locate the pulsar exactly at the center of a supernova remnant known as G11.2-0.3, which astronomers had already definitively dated. Scientists believed that both the pulsar and the supernova had formed during an explosion in 386 AD~ an event that early Chinese astronomers had recorded. Astronomers have experienced difficulty tracking and interpreting the patterns of pulsars, because the formations spin and move rapidly. In light of the successful dating, many scientists hoped that the discovery might help them understand how pulsars develop. NASA, “Chandra Links Pulsar to Historic Supernova,” news release 01-02, 10 January 2001.
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