Dizzy Little Green Man - XMM-Newton Reveals a Tumbling Pulsar

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This XMM-Newton X-ray image shows the portion of the sky around the pulsar named 'RX J0720.4-3125', which is the central bright object appearing in red. This spinning star has been observed by XMM-Newton over a few years, and has shown an unexpected variation in the observed thermal emission. According to astronomers, this effect is not due to a real variation in temperature, but instead to a changing viewing geometry. The pulsar is most probably a slowly tumbling star, which exposes different areas of the surface over time. Credits: ESA/MPE

When the first pulsar was discovered, it was nicknamed LGM-1 or 'Little Green Man 1' because it was beaming such a regular signal into space. Now an international team of astronomers have discovered a pulsar that is tumbling through space in a fashion that would surely dizzy any Little Green Men unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity. Reporting their results in Astronomy & Astrophysics, the scientists explain how this unique object, called RX J0720.4-3125 can shed light on the mysteries of pulsars.

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