The discovery of PSR 2303 + 46, the fifth radio pulsar known to be in a gravitationally bound orbit around another star, is reported. The pulsar period (1.066 s) and the orbital eccentricity (0.658) are the largest among the five binary systems, while the orbital period (12.34d) lies near the middle of the range. Evolutionary considerations suggest strongly that the companion is another neutron star. The general relativistic precession of periastron should be observable within 1 or 2 yr and, when measured, will specify the total mass of the two stars.
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Stokes et al. (1985) studied this question.
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