Astronomers Find the Fastest Spider Pulsar, Filling in the Missing Link in Their Evolution

Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars which release blasts of radio waves with atomic clocklike accuracy. The fastest can be turning hundreds of times a second. But another class of pulsars turns agonizingly slowly in comparison, completing a rotation in hours. Astronomers have termed these "spider pulsars" because they have to feast on a binary companion star to slow down like this. Now researchers have discovered the fastest-turning spider pulsar, completing a rotation every 53 minutes, w...