Newly Found ‘Black Widow’ Binary Has Third Companion

The two inner stars circle in a deadly tango every 62 minutes, while the outer object goes around every 10,000 years.

Cataloged as ZTF J1406+1222 and classified as a black widow binary, the inner pulsar is sustaining its high-speed spin by stealing rotation from its mate. Normally, pulsars slow down over time, but black widows devour mass instead, and with it angular…