A neutron star close to Earth is spinning as fast as a blender. Known as a millisecond pulsar, it is rotating at 174 times per second but many of its characteristics have remained a mystery. Now, thanks to almost 30 years of observations from Murriyang, CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, we know its mass. And that’s the key to knowing so much more.

In a series of three papers accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters, a global group of scientists describe how Murriyang together with NICER (Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR), NASA’s X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, have accurately measured the mass and radius of this nearby neutron star.

The work of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) collaboration to monitor a set of pulsars over long timescales was vital to these results.

Understanding the star’s matter will allow scientists to better predict the gravitational wave signatures created when neutron stars collide and collapse into black holes. Neutron star collisions release a burst of gravitational waves in an enormous explosion called a kilonova, which can be seen by many telescopes, including Xray telescopes and radio ones.