AbstractMillisecond pulsars are intrinsically interesting because they illustrate some of the most extreme physical conditions to be found anywhere in the Universe, and because their evolution exhibits several stages of great drama. It had been widely believed for several years that spin-up of an old neutron star by accretion from a close stellar companion explained their fast rotation, but the absence of companions in several cases cast doubt on that picture. This spring a millisecond pulsar in a close binary was discovered in which the companion appears to be evaporating, thus reconciling the existence of lone millisecond pulsars with the standard picture. Ongoing observations of this new system, and complementary calculations, promise to answer many of the questions remaining about this dramatic phase in stellar evolution.
Laser beam calibration for wood surface colour treatment