GRAPHICS: Weird Stellar Pair Puzzles Scientists

Orbital Comparison With the Solar System: This diagram shows a comparison of the sizes and strangely elliptical shapes of the orbits of the pulsar J1903+0327 and its possible Sun-like companion star with the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The sizes of the Sun and the possible companion star have been exaggerated by a factor of about 10, while that of the Earth has been exaggerated by a factor of about 1000. The pulsar, with its magnetic field and beams of radiation, is too large by a factor of about 100,000.

CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF

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