Amidst a world that can often feel small and constrictive, the universe continues to amaze us. Recently, astronomer Amaris McCarver and her team at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) made a groundbreaking discovery buried within a mountain of data. Their hard work and dedication led to the discovery of the first-millisecond pulsar in the stellar cluster Glimpse-CO1.

A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation from its magnetic poles. This latest discovery represents a significant breakthrough in our understanding of these celestial objects.

McCarver's discovery came early in her career as an NRL Remote Sensing Division intern. She and her team used images from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) Low-band Ionosphere and Transient Experiment (VLITE) to search for new pulsars in 97 stellar clusters. The success of their work was thrilling, and McCarver was overjoyed to see the results of her speculative project come to fruition.

“This scientific discovery was made possible thanks to the collaboration between NRL and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, enabling the constant dual-frequency capability on the VLA,” said Tracy E. Clarke, Ph.D., NRL Remote Sensing Division astronomer. “This research demonstrates how we can efficiently use measures of radio brightness at different frequencies to find new pulsars. This opens the door to a new era of searches for highly dispersed and highly accelerated pulsars.”

The discovery of the millisecond pulsar GLIMPSE-C01A represents a chance to explore the frontiers of natural laboratories. Pulsars enable us to study the behavior of matter under extreme gravitational and magnetic fields, function as natural timekeepers and can help detect gravitational waves propagating through space's inner workings.

Emil Polisensky, Ph.D., an NRL Remote Sensing Division astronomer, shares the promise of this discovery, "Millisecond pulsars offer a promising method for autonomously navigating spacecraft from low Earth orbit to interstellar space, independent of ground contact and GPS availability. The confirmation of a new pulsar identified by Amaris highlights the exciting potential for discovery with NRL’s VLITE data and the key role student interns play in cutting-edge research."

McCarver's accomplishment has not gone unnoticed. She recently received the Robert S. Hyer Research Award from the Texas Section of the American Physical Society (APS) for her work on millisecond pulsars as part of the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP). McCarver was one of sixteen summer 2023 interns in the Radio, Infrared, Optical Sensors Branch at NRL DC, and her outstanding achievement shines a light on the significant contributions that students can make in fields of cutting-edge research.

The universe is full of mysteries waiting to be discovered, and Amaris McCarver has provided us with one more piece of the puzzle with her groundbreaking discovery of the millisecond pulsar in the Glimpse-CO1 stellar cluster. Her dedication and passion show us that the limits of what we can explore and understand are far from within our reach. Let us lift our eyes to the cosmos, embrace the unknown, and dare to dream of what can be. Congratulations, Amaris, on your remarkable achievement!