Pulsar
hidePulsars are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The observed periods of their pulses range from 1.4 milliseconds to 8.5 seconds. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name. Because neutron stars are very dense objects, the rotation period and thus the interval between observed pulses are very regular. For some pulsars, the regularity of pulsation is as precise as an atomic clock. Pulsars are known to have planets orbiting them, as in the case of PSR B1257+12. Werner Becker of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics said in 2006, "The theory of how pulsars emit their radiation is still in its infancy, even after nearly forty years of work."
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News tagged with pulsar
Fermi sees brightest-ever blazar flare
11 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A galaxy located billions of light-years away is commanding the attention of NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and astronomers around the globe. Thanks to a series of flares that began ...
Carbon Atmosphere Discovered on Neutron Star
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Evidence for a thin veil of carbon has been found on the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. This discovery, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, resolves a ten-year ...
The cosmos is green: Researchers catch nature in the act of 'recycling' a star (w/Animations)
May 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, researchers have observed a singular cosmic act of rebirth: the transformation of an ordinary, slow-rotating pulsar into a superfast millisecond pulsar with an almost infinitely ...
Geriatric pulsar still kicking
Feb 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The oldest isolated pulsar ever detected in X-rays has been found with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This very old and exotic object turns out to be surprisingly active.
Fermi Telescope reveals a population of radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars
Jul 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new class of pulsars detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is solving the mystery of previously unidentified gamma-ray sources and helping scientists understand the mechanisms ...
New technique improves estimates of pulsar ages
Jun 09, 2009 |
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Astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have developed a new technique to determine the ages of millisecond pulsars, the fastest-spinning stars in the universe.
Fermi Large Area Telescope reveals pulsing gamma-ray sources
Sep 09, 2009 |
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Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Space Science Division and a team of international researchers have positively identified cosmic sources of gamma-ray emissions through the discovery of 16 ...
Fingers, Loops and Bays in the Crab Nebula
Nov 06, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- This image gives the first clear view of the faint boundary of the Crab Nebula's X-ray-emitting pulsar wind nebula. The nebula is powered by a rapidly-rotating, highly-magnetized neutron star, ...
Einstein was right: Unique stellar system provides 'laboratory' for testing relativity
Jul 03, 2008 |
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Researchers at McGill University's Department of Physics – along with colleagues from several countries – have confirmed a long-held prediction of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, via observations ...
Integral locates origin of high-energy emission from Crab Nebula
Aug 29, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Thanks to data from ESA's Integral gamma-ray observatory, scientists have been able to locate where particles in the vicinity of the rotating neutron-star in the Crab Nebula are accelerated ...
