Vela Pulsar Jet, Illustration

Vela Pulsar Jet, Illustration

This is an artist's impression showing the Vela pulsar and its jet. The pulsar is a rapidly rotating neutron star that is producing a net of particles, shown in blue, moving at 70 percent of the speed of light, and some tangled magnetic fields. If the pulsar is precessing, or wobbling, as it spins, it can produce a corkscrew-shaped jet. The Vela Pulsar (PSR B0833-45 or PSR J0835-4510) is a radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-emitting pulsar associated with Vela Supernova Remnant, in the constellation of Vela. A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing toward the Earth, much the way a lighthouse can only be seen when the light is pointed in the direction of an observer, and is responsible for the pulsed appearance of emission. The Vela pulsar is about 1,000 light years from Earth, is about 12 miles in diameter, and makes over 11 complete rotations every second, faster than a helicopter rotor. As the pulsar whips around, it spews out a jet of charged particles that race out along the pulsar's rotation axis at about 70% of the speed of light. Release date January 7, 2013.

Album / NASA/CXC/M.Weiss / Science Source

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