SS 2883 system

Primary: SS 2883

Secondary: PSR B1259-63

Other:

• SS 2883 dust ring
  

What makes this binary system of interest is PSR B1259-63's orbit, which takes it through SS 2883's vast dust ring twice every 3.4 standard years. The plunges are only a few months apart, just before and after periastron, the point when the two objects in orbit are closest to each other. During the plunges, high amounts of X-rays and Gamma rays are emitted.

For most of the 3.4 year orbit, both sources are relatively dim in X-rays and it is not possible to identify characteristics in the pulsar wind. However, as the two objects draw closer together, sparks begin to fly.