(Phys.org) —An international team of astronomers using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) has discovered a pulsar that is orbited by two white dwarf stars. Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars that can be used like precision astronomical clocks. This is the first time that astronomers have found a triple star system that contains a pulsar, and the discovery team has used the pulsar's clock-like properties to turn the system into an unparalleled precision laboratory for studying the effects of gravitational interactions.
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