Gravity Tidbits

The inspiral of two dense objects known as neutron stars, cousins to black holes, are one of the sources for gravitational waves. Image Credit: NASA/D. Berry (CXC)

Recent discoveries indicate that pulsars have a rotation speed limit caused by gravitational radiation. As the pulsar spins faster, it is thought to emit more and more gravitational radiation until any further increase would cause more spin down through gravitational radiation than could be supplied by the companion star. Image Credit: NASA

An artist's conception of a pulsar, a neutron star that emits radiation, and its companion star. The latter donates material that spins-up the pulsar.