Pulsar Pulsar A pulsar (from "pulse" and "-ar" as in quasar) is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can be observed only when the beam of emission is pointing toward Earth (much like the way a lighthouse can be seen only when the light is pointed in the direction of an observer), and is responsible for the pulsed appearance of emission. Neutron stars are very dense, and have short, regular rotational periods. This produces a very precise interval between pulses that ranges from milliseconds to seconds for an individual pulsar. Pulsars are
Laser beam quality as shown in the figure. However, when a multimode beam is focused, Equation (3) becomes M cannot be determined from a single beam profile measurement. The ISO/DIS 11146 define that M should be calculated from a series of measurements as shown in the figure below. M is measured on real beams by focusing the beam with a fixed position lens of known focal length, and then measuring the characteristics of the beam waist and divergence. These measurements can be taken with a laser beam profiler. The multiple measurements ensure that the minimum beam diameter is found and enable a "curve