All about neutron stars and pulsars

You might have heard about neutron stars and pulsars referred to as exotic deep space objects, but what actually are they?

Neutron stars

Let’s start with neutron stars. Neutron stars are formed from the stars in the universe that are almost the heaviest, but not quite. When these massive stars collapse, the product is called a neutron star. To learn more about the process of collapsing, click here: https://theastroenthusiast.com/all-about-black-holes/.

Usually, the stars that make neutron stars are 400 Million miles across, but these stars are squished into a ball only 50 miles across. This makes these neutron stars very weird. If you took a matchbox-sized neutron star to earth, it would weigh as much as an elephant!

Why are they called neutron stars?

Atoms consist of three main parts: protons, electrons, and neutrons. When a neutron star is formed, gravity is so strong that it squishes most of the protons and electrons together into neutrons. This creates a strange sort of matter that is neither solid, nor liquid, nor gas.

These stars are some of the strangest and coolest things in our universe, and scientists are always discovering new things about them.

Pulsars

To put it simply, pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars. In this scenario, rapidly means about 1000 times per second. When neutron stars start to spin this fast, an interesting effect happens. From the poles of the star, radio waves are emitted in a tight beam. Observers on earth can only see these stars when the beam is pointed directly at their telescopes. Because these pulsars wobble while spinning, the beam is not always pointed at earth. This gives the appearance of a “pulsing” star.

What is the difference between a pulsar and a quasar?

As mentioned before, a pulsar is a rapidly spinning star. A quasar is a distant galaxy that also emits beams of radio waves. To learn more about galaxies, click here: https://theastroenthusiast.com/all-about-galaxies/. Quasars are incredible objects because they are the farthest objects that we can see in the universe.

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Pulsars and neutron stars are incredibly weird and fascinating objects that we must learn more about.

Do you have any cool facts about neutron stars or quasars? Share them in the comments below!