#Pulsars are magnetized, rotating neutron stars. Beams of radiation from their magnetic poles swipe past the observer, resulting in characteristic pulsing radio patterns.
The fastest pulsar we know, PSR J1748−2446ad, rotates at 716 times/sec or 43000 times/min.
@grb090423@echopapa I'm not sure about radio pulsars - as article said, what ppl assumed seems not to be 100% and there seldomly are hard limits for processes which are gradually turning on or off. In general, we do know a lot slower pulsars! For example, there are X-ray pulsars (accreting highly magnetised neutron stars) that are as slow as several hours (slowest rotates once every ~10 hours or so, https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.01791 ), though the "average" ones are more like minutes long.
@grb090423@echopapa the difference between radio and X-ray pulsars is the wavelength of electromagnetic emissions at which pulsations are detected. Different processes produce radio and X-rays close to the poles. But in both cases, the pulsing is due to the rotation of the neutron star, showing us, the observers, the one or there other pole.
Add comment