Neutron star radiation from pulsars is thought to be primarily emitted from regions near their magnetic poles. If the magnetic poles do not coincide with the rotational axis of the neutron star, the emission beam will sweep the sky, and when seen from a distance, if the observer is somewhere in the path of the beam, it will appear as pulses of radiation coming from a fixed point in space (the so-called "lighthouse effect"). The fastest-spinning neutron star known is PSR J1748-2446ad, rotating at a rate of 716 times a second or 43,000 revolutions per minute, giving a linear speed at the
Neutron star explanation does not fully explain magnetic field strengths of neutron stars. The gravitational field at a neutron star's surface is about times stronger than on Earth, at around . Such a strong gravitational field acts as a gravitational lens and bends the radiation emitted by the neutron star such that parts of the normally invisible rear surface become visible. If the radius of the neutron star is 3"GM"/"c" or less, then the photons may be trapped in an orbit, thus making the whole surface of that neutron star visible "from a single vantage point", along with destabilizing photon orbits at