Pulsars beam radio waves like cosmic lighthouses
Pulsars are ultra-dense, spinning neutron stars that emit precise radio beams across the galaxy, acting like cosmic lighthouses and offering clues to extreme physics.
Pulsars are incredibly dense, rapidly spinning neutron stars, the remnants of massive stars that exploded. These cosmic lighthouses sweep narrow beams of radio waves across the galaxy from their magnetic poles. When a beam aligns with Earth, we detect a precise, regular pulse, giving these stars their name: pulsating stars.
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