Pulsar Found Near the Center of the Milky Way Could Test Einstein’s Theories

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P.Ulsars are highly magnetized, rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit bursts of electromagnetic radiation from their poles at regular intervals as they rotate. In a way, they look like cosmic beacons, flashing through space. Now, according to a new study published in The Astrophysics Journalthere could be a pulsar at the center of our Milky Way and this could open a new chapter in physics.

Researchers from Columbia University and Breakthrough Listen, a program dedicated to the search for intelligent life outside our solar system, located the pulsar during one of the most sensitive scans of the region at the center of our galaxy. They found an 8.19 millisecond pulsar, incredibly close to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole in the middle of the Milky Way.

Read more: “Probing the mysteries of neutron stars with a surprising terrestrial analogue”

Since pulsars emit radiation at regular intervals, they can act as timekeepers of sorts. Millisecond pulsars, like the one located by the team, are particularly regular. But locating such a regular pulsar next to a supermassive object like a black hole opens up intriguing possibilities for studying space-time.

“Any external influence on a pulsar, such as the gravitational pull of a massive object, would introduce anomalies in this regular arrival of pulses, which can be measured and modeled,” explained study author Slavko Bogdanov in a statement. “Additionally, when pulses travel near a very massive object, they can be deflected and experience delays due to space-time warping, as predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity.”

Einstein described the structure of space-time more than a century ago. Today, we could finally know more about its thread count.

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Main image: Danielle Futselaar / Breakthrough Listen

• Jake Currie

  Published on February 16, 2026

  Jake Currie is a writer based in Brooklyn, New York.