The FAST radio telescope discovered a neutron star pair circling each other on the most stretched oval orbit of any known pair in our Galaxy. Researchers ran simulations showing such extreme pairs are rare but fit standard theories of how these pairs form.
Neutron star pairs trace how massive stars die and their collapsed cores end up circling each other. Simulations show only about 0.6% of pairs this survey can detect should be this extreme — rare, but just what standard theory allows. Upcoming telescopes and gravitational-wave detectors should find many more to test that picture.
✦ Even the strangest orbits in our Galaxy can follow the rules we already know.