⚙️ how

How do pulsars flash like cosmic lighthouses?

Quick Answer

Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars that emit beams of radiation from their magnetic poles. As the beams sweep past Earth, we see regular pulses.

The Full Story

A pulsar is the collapsed core of a massive star after a supernova explosion, compressed into a neutron star. Many neutron stars spin extremely fast and have strong magnetic fields that channel radiation into narrow beams. If one of those beams crosses Earth, it appears as a repeating pulse, sometimes hundreds of times per second. The first pulsar was discovered in 1967 by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish, opening a major field in astrophysics.

Key Facts

1.First pulsar discovered in 1967
2.Pulsars are neutron stars
3.Some pulsars spin hundreds of times per second

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"Why a dead star can blink like a lighthouse"

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