Pulsars

Pulsars are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars that emit beams of electromagnetic radiation out of their magnetic poles. As these stars spin, the beams sweep across space, and if aligned with Earth, they can be detected as regular pulses of radiation, typically in the radio wavelength, but can also occur in optical and X-ray wavelengths. Due to their precise rotation periods, pulsars are used in various fields of astrophysics and can serve as cosmic clocks, helping researchers study the properties of matter under extreme conditions, the behavior of gravity, and the dynamics of galaxies. The first pulsar was discovered in 1967, and since then, thousands of these astronomical objects have been identified, including millisecond pulsars which rotate at exceptionally high rates, offering insights into fundamental physics and the characteristics of the universe.