What are Pulsars?

About Pulsars:

• Pulsars are rotating neutron stars observed to have pulses of radiation at very regular intervals that typically range from milliseconds to seconds.
• Pulsars have very strong magnetic fields, which funnel jets of particles out along the two magnetic poles. These accelerated particles produce very powerful beams of light.
• Often, the magnetic field is not aligned with the spin axis, so those beams of particles and light are swept around as the star rotates.
• When the beam crosses our line of sight, we see a pulse; in other words, we see pulsars turn on and off as the beam sweeps over Earth.
• Pulsar masses range between 1.18 and 1.97 times that of the Sun, but most pulsars have a mass 1.35 times that of the Sun.

What is a Neutron Star?

• It is an extremely dense and compact celestial object that forms when a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses under its own gravity.
• The very central region of the star, the core, collapses, crushing together every proton and electron into a neutron. 
• If the core of the collapsing star is between about 1 and 3 solar masses, these newly-created neutrons can stop the collapse, leaving behind a neutron star. (Stars with higher masses will continue to collapse into stellar-mass black holes.)
• Since neutron stars began their existence as stars, they are scattered throughout the galaxy in the same places where we find stars. And like stars, they can be found by themselves or in binary systems with a companion.