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
Neutron star towards the plane of curvature. In addition, high energy photons can interact with lower energy photons and the magnetic field for electron-positron pair production, which through electron–positron annihilation leads to further high energy photons. The radiation emanating from the magnetic poles of neutron stars can be described as "magnetospheric radiation", in reference to the magnetosphere of the neutron star. It is not to be confused with "magnetic dipole radiation", which is emitted because the magnetic axis is not aligned with the rotational axis, with a radiation frequency the same as the neutron star's rotational frequency. If the axis of rotation