Binary System of Stellar Corpses Sheds Secrets

Mukremin Kilic (Universitiy of Oklahoma) and collaborators report the discovery of the first millisecond pulsar with a pulsating white dwarf companion. High-speed photometry obtained using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini North revealed optical variability attributable to the roughly 0.2M_Sun white dwarf. The system offers opportunities for future investigation of mass, internal structure, and physical characteristics of these stellar endpoints, which are connected directly to their evolutionary paths. The work is in press in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and a preprint is available.