The article makes no mention of the possibility of this being a binary system of some sort, although I would guess the physics involved for this type of burst are equally lacking in current models.
The object sends X-ray pulses for 30-300 seconds every 22 minutes.
For a binary star system we would expect to see pulses while the neutron star is not behind the star and a short period without any pulses while the other star blocks it. Which is the inverse of the recorded pattern
In a tertiary or greater star system you could have longer periods where the star is blocked but the time between pulses would vary depending on the positions of other stars.
Personally I think it will end up being a pulsar that is slowing down and becoming a regular neutron star with something externally adding/removing mass from it causing it to speed up again.
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