Astronomers Detected Three Mysterious “Glitches” in a Pulsar That Had Gone Silent for Years

Astronomers detected three mysterious "glitches" in a young neutron star, PSR J1637−4642, that had gone silent for nearly a decade. The pulsar, which completes each rotation every 154 milliseconds, exhibited sudden changes in its rotation, including a large glitch that could indicate the presence of exotic matter. The glitch, observed in 2018, caused the pulsar's frequency to increase by 17.54 microhertz, a small but significant change. The researchers suggest that the glitches may be caused by interactions between the pulsar's solid exterior and its superfluid core, leading to the transfer of angular momentum and energy.

• The pulsar's most significant glitch did not end immediately but instead relaxed over more than 100 days of monitoring.
• The study, led by Zhaoyi Wang of Xiamen University, analyzed over fifteen years of observations using the Murriyang radio telescope.
• The findings suggest that even "quiet" pulsars can harbor significant glitch activity, offering new insights into the behavior of young neutron stars.

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