A pulsar is a rapidly rotating star, a species that is believed to be the first to contain exoplanets. It has now been discovered that these planets may be extremely rare. Iuliana Nițu, a Ph.D. student at the University of Manchester, will present this new research tomorrow at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2022) by presenting the results of her new research.

Planets around pulsars are known to form, but what causes them to survive, is unknown at this point. A survey of 800 pulsars followed by the Jodrell Bank Observatory over the past 50 years has revealed that this first detected exoplanet system may be exceptionally uncommon: less than 0.5% of all known pulsars can host planets with a mass of Earth.

Pulsars are a type of neutron star, the densest stars in the universe, born during powerful explosions near the end of a typical star's life. Pulsars exhibit bright radio emission from their magnetic poles, which pulses as the star rotates.

They are extremely stable and rapidly rotating, and have extremely strong magnetic fields. Pulsars are exceptionally stable, rapidly rotating, and have incredibly strong magnetic fields.

In the same way, a cosmic lighthouse produces signals, pulsars produce signals that sweep the Earth when they rotate. These signals are picked up by radio telescopes and used to perform a multitude of amazing scientific experiments.

It was in 1992 that the first exoplanets were discovered orbiting a pulsar named PSR B1257+12, and the planetary system is now known to contain at least three planets that share this planet's mass with the rocky planets in our Solar System.

There have been a few more pulsars discovered that are thought to host planets since then, including PSR B1257+12. 'Normal' planet formation is quite unlikely as a result of the extremely violent conditions surrounding the birth and life of pulsars, and many of the detected planets find themselves as exotic objects (such as planets made up mostly of the diamond) that are unlike the planets we know from our Solar System.

The University of Manchester conducted the largest search for planets orbiting pulsars to date, according to astronomers. The team was looking for signals indicating the presence of planets with masses up to 100 times earth's and orbital periods ranging from 20 days to 17 years, as well as planetary companions with masses up to 100 times earth.

A system with an orbital period of 1.9 and 3.6 years, which may host at least two planets, is the most promising of the 10 potential detections. According to the results of this study, planet mass or orbital period is not biased in pulsar systems.

As a result, the results provide information about the orbits of these planets: compared to our Solar System, these planets would orbit their stars on highly elliptical paths rather than near-circular ones. Accordingly, pulsar-planet systems form in vastly different ways than traditional star-planet systems.

The motivation for her research is that pulsars are exotic and fascinating objects. Thirty years ago, the first extra-solar planets were discovered around pulsars, but we still do not understand how these planets can form and survive in extreme environments. Identifying how common they are and their appearance is a crucial step toward this.