The first true discovery of extrasolar planets came in 1994 , when radio astronomers discovered worlds around the pulsar psr b1257 + 12 some 980 light-years away in the virgo constellation .
The pulsar generates a wind of high-energy particles -- seen in the chandra data -- that expands into the surrounding environment , illuminating the material ejected in the supernova explosion .
It may be the remains of a carbon-rich white dwarf star . But it 's been mostly cannibalized by its pulsar companion , and is now just a shadow of its former self .
白矮星已经被它的同伴脉冲星吃好掉了,现在只剩下过去它自己的形状。
The researchers determined that the precession of the pulsar 's orbital axis advances by 4.77 degrees per year , plus or minus 0.66 degrees .
研究者确定,脉冲星的轨道轴进动幅度每年前进4.77度,误差0.66度。
The temperature in this region appears to vary in a circular pattern around this ring of emission , suggesting that the pulsar may be precessing like a spinning top and sweeping an energizing beam around the gas in rcw 89 .
In fact , the first planets ever discovered beyond our solar system were found this way in 1992 , but thanks to the intense radiation coming off a pulsar , there 's no chance life could exist on them .
Specifically , they will be looking to verify that the object is , indeed , acting like a steadily feeding baby black hole and not like an angrily spinning newborn neutron star , or pulsar , which can create a wind of powerful particles that light up gas and debris in space around it with loads of x-rays .
As of 2007 , three extrasolar planets have been confirmed in orbit around this pulsar .
直至2007年,在这颗脉冲星周围轨道上已有三颗系外行星被确认。
The position of the pulsar at the upper right end of the tail is seen by mousing over the image .
脉冲星在尾巴末端右上角的位置,可以通过仔细搜寻图像查看到。
The white source near the center of the image is a dense , rapidly rotating neutron star , or pulsar , all that remains of a core-collapse supernova explosion .