NASA’s NICER Reveals 1st-ever Pulsar Surface Map

In the April issue of Astronomy Magazine, they have an article regarding the fact that they have been able to create a surface map of a PULSAR...Using their X-Ray telescope on the International Space Station, called NICER, which stands for "Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER)" But just what is a PULSAR? Here is what WIkipedia has to say about it... This video provides great detail about NASA's findings...

"A pulsar (from pulse and -ar as in quasar) is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. This radiation can be observed only when a 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 one of the candidates for the source of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (see also centrifugal mechanism of acceleration).

The periods of pulsars make them very useful tools for astronomers. Observations of a pulsar in a binary neutron star system were used to indirectly confirm the existence of gravitational radiation. The first extrasolar planets were discovered around a pulsar, PSR B1257+12. Certain types of pulsars exceed atomic clocks in their accuracy in keeping time." Read more at wikipedia.com

Watch and listen to this NASA Science VIDEO...

Enjoy!