A pulsar is a high-speed rotating object, which is formed by the high-speed rotation of ordinary neutron stars.
Pulsars are a type of neutron star. Unlike neutron stars, pulsars are highly magnetized and rotate at extremely high speeds. It is about the size of a medium-sized city, but its mass is several times higher than that of the sun. They have extremely high magnetic fields that can eject particle jets along two magnetic poles. These accelerated particles can produce very powerful beams.
Because pulsars look like twinkling stars, but they are like switches, turning on and off, so they are also called lighthouses in the universe. When pulsars rotate, , the beam will sweep across the Earth, then swing back and forth, becoming visible for a while and then disappearing again. Astronomers discover pulsars by periodically emitting radio pulses into the universe.
The formation of a pulsar is very similar to that of a neutron star
First of all, a pulsar is a rapidly rotating neutron star, and a neutron star is the product of the explosion of a supernova, which is the remaining core of a star. After the core collapses, it will rotate. The principle can be imagined as a skater holding a person's hand, and the person is spinning around the athlete.
Later, when the neutron star formed, the massive core of the preexisting star was compressed into a hot, highly compact ball. Among them, the conservation of angular momentum plays a very important role in the formation of pulsars. Angular momentum is the momentum of rotation. If a skater spreads his arms and rotates on the ice rink without any interference from external forces, the angular momentum is constant. , at this time, if the athlete holds his arms in front of his chest, his rotation speed will be greatly increased because he pulls his body into the rotation axis, and during this process, the angular momentum does not increase or decrease.
So, the reason for the high-speed rotation of pulsars is like the theory of conservation of angular momentum. This high-speed rotation causes the pulsar to generate a strong magnetic field. Since the magnetic field itself is not constant, electrons are generated, which causes the protons and electrons on the surface of the pulsar to accelerate unevenly. This accelerated protons and electrons cause High radiation is released towards the magnetic poles. Since the magnetic pole rotation axis and the magnetic pole are not aligned, the pulsar we see will flash back and forth in a periodic manner like a lighthouse.