Pulsar

A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rapidly rotating neutron star that emits focused beams of electromagnetic radiation from its magnetic poles, creating lighthouse-like sweeps across space. When these beams align with Earth, we detect regular pulses of radio waves, X-rays, or gamma rays with extraordinary precision—some pulsars keep time more accurately than atomic clocks.</p><p>These cosmic lighthouses form when massive stars collapse into ultra-dense spheres just 12-15 miles across but containing 1.4 times our Sun's mass. A teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh about 6 billion tons on Earth. Pulsars spin incredibly fast, from once every few seconds to over 700 times per second, powered by conservation of angular momentum from the original star's rotation.</p><p>The first pulsar was discovered in 1967 by Jocelyn Bell Burnell, initially dubbed "Little Green Men" due to its mysteriously regular signals. The Crab Pulsar, remnant of a supernova witnessed by Chinese astronomers in 1054 CE, spins 30 times per second and illuminates surrounding gas clouds. The millisecond pulsar PSR J1939+2134 rotates 641 times per second—faster than a kitchen blender.</p><p>Pulsars serve as natural laboratories for extreme physics, helping scientists study gravitational waves, test Einstein's relativity, and probe matter under conditions impossible to recreate on Earth.