What is a Spider Star System?

About Spider Star System:

• It is a binary star system in which a superdense star (pulsar) spins quickly, eats another star.
• The super-dense object that begins to pull a matter from the companion resembles the habits of spiders of the genus Latrodectus, in which the female eats the male after mating, hence the name came.
• Initially, the dense pulsar strips material from the outer atmosphere of its companion, periodically shedding the gathered material in violent explosions.
• In the later stage of their lifetimes, the energetic particles streaming out of the pulsar can strip the atmosphere of its companion.
• In either case, the pulsar slowly erodes its companion over time.
• Two Types:
  • Black widows: Binary pulsar systems, in which the mass of a companion star is less than 5 percent of the pulsar.
  • Redback: Binary pulsar systems in which mass of the companion star is from 10 to 50 percent of the pulsar.

What is a Binary star system?

• A binary system is one in which two stars orbit around a common centre of mass, that is they are gravitationally bound to each other.

What are pulsars?

• Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars, extremely dense starscomposed almost entirely of neutrons and having a diameter of only 20 km (12 miles) or less. 
• They emit concentrated streams of radiation far across the cosmos.

What are neutron stars?

• They are the remnants of giant stars that died in a fiery explosion known as a supernova.
• After such an outburst, the cores of these former stars compact into an ultradense object with the mass of the sun packed into a ball the size of a city.