Pulsars are the collapsed remnants of massive stars that went supernova. Spinning at dizzying speeds, they emit beams of radio waves (and sometimes X-rays or gamma rays) from their magnetic poles. As these beams sweep past Earth, we detect them as precise pulses, sometimes hundreds of times per second.

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In: Aliens and Alien Abductions, PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS, S.E.T.I.

In the vastness of space, not all stars go quietly into the night. Some die spectacular deaths, becoming pulsars — dense, rapidly spinning neutron stars emitting electromagnetic radiation beams with uncanny regularity. These cosmic lighthouses are some of the most extreme objects in the universe, ticking away with millisecond precision.Continue Reading