The surprising environment of an enigmatic neutron star

An unusual infrared emission detected by the Hubble Space Telescope from a nearby neutron star could indicate that the pulsar has features never before seen. The observation, by a team of researchers at Penn State, Sabanci University in Turkey, and the University of Arizona, could help astronomers better understand the evolution of neutron stars—the incredibly dense remnants of massive stars after a supernova. A paper describing the research and two possible explanations for the unusual finding appears September 17, 2018 in the Astrophysical Journal.