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A "pulsar" is a rapidly-rotating neutron star, with a core of collapsed matter. The pulsar rotates because the original star rotated.

If\\ WHEN a massive star becomes a supernova, the force of the explosion will crush the core of the star into either a neutron star or a black hole, if the original star was massive enough. The angular momentum (the "spin energy") of the original star doesn't disappear; like a figure skater pulling in her arms to spin faster, the neutron star will spin more rapidly because it has collapsed in size. If the neutron star's axis is pointed somewhere close to Earth, we detect the pulsating x-rays and we call it a "pulsar".

So to answer the question, all supernova remnants contain either neutron stars or black holes, but they are pulsars only if they spin rapidly.

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16y ago

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