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Pulsars

A pulsar is nothing more than a young neutron star, with a pole that points towards Earth.

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Why do pulsar stars spin?

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A pulsar is nothing more than a neutron star but with a pole pointing towards Earth.

See related questions.

Are pulsars important to people on earth?

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Most people wouldn't know what a pulsar was, so probably no.

What is the p p dot diagram of pulsar?

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The $P \dot{P}$ diagram is used to follow the lives of pulsars, playing a role similar to the HR diagram for ordinary stars. It encodes a large amount of information about the pulsar population and its properties. Using the parameters, one can estimate the pulsar age, magnetic field and spin down power. [See Link]

From:- The Handbook of Pulsar Astronomy

How do pulsars spin so fast?

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Because of the conservation of rotational momentum. As a stars core collapses, it retains the original rotational velocity. As a pulsar or neutron star's original size was in the region of 60,000 time greater that it's current form, the rotational speed is multiplied by this factor.

Maintaining the rotational momentum requires the star to spin faster.

Can a pulsar be an unstable red giant?

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No a pulsar cannot be an unstable red giant. It is nothing more than a neutron star [See related question]

What type of energy do stars emit?

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Our sun emits mostly visible and ultra-violet radiation

Are all pulsars neutron stars?

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All young neutron stars in reality are "pulsars".

However, for a neutron star to be termed a pulsar, it's magnetic axis has to point towards Earth. (So we can see the pulse, even though all young neutron stars have a pulse, they cannot be observed from Earth.)

Are all neutron stars also pulsars?

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Evidence suggests that all Neutron stars are pulsars or were once pulsars. In theoretical physics; the existence of objects like quark stars, preon stars, or electroweak stars is called into question. These are usually used to explain radio quiet neutron stars; however, far more likely these objects simply do not pulse at any rate in our relative direction.

What evidence can you cite that pulsars are neutron stars?

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A pulsar is a neutron star that rotates and sends a beam of electromagnetic radiation. This is known because only a very dense source of such radiation would be capable of rotating that quickly without disintegrating.

Are pulsars neutron stars?

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When a neutron star is "born" [See related question], it emits a steady beam of electromagnetic radiation. When this beam is directed towards Earth it is called a Pulsar. [See related question]

See related link for a pictorial of the beam.

If the beam is not directed towards Earth, then it is only observed as a neutron star because we cannot detect the electromagnetic radiation beam.

As a neutron star slowly ages (10 -> 100 million years), this beam slowly "switches" off and the pulsar is no more.

So all neutron stars in their early stage, emit a steady beam of electromagnetic radiation, but it's only called a pulsar if it's directed towards Earth.

How fast does a pulsar rotate?

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It depends on how old the pulsar is, as over time their rapid rotation slows.

The fasted known pulsar rotate about once every 1.4 milliseconds whilst the slowest takes about 8.5 seconds to rotate.

Can you see pulsars with the naked eye?

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Rarely.

But if a star that is normally visible with the naked eye during the night does go supernova, you will definitely see it -some have. In some cases it may even be visible during the day.

What is the color of a neutron star and pulsar?

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Nebulas are usually reddish is color but it depends which nebular you are looking at, they are all different.

Who discovered pulsars?

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The first pulsar was found by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish in July 1967.

Because they had not idea what they had discovered they called the new object LGM-1, for "little green men". It was later determined to be a pulsar [See related question]. Their pulsar was later dubbed CP 1919, and is now known by a number of other designators.

See related link for more information.

Pulsars cannot be spinning white dwarfs because?

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because of the great mass of the star, the gravity of it is very high. So after its death, it actually contracts so tightly that even protons and electrons combine to form neutron and thus results to a star called neutron star. If its previous mass is considerably low, then it could have become a white dwarf

What gas does not t expand or contract?

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Down to something called the Avogadro Constant. It states that 1 mole of ANY gas will always occupy the same amount of space.

What group is white dwarf red giant and pulsar?

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No group at all. They are all different

Is a pulsar star like a light house or helicopter?

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You might think of a pulsar as very vaguely similar to a lighthouse. A pulsar is a small, rapidly spinning neutron star; flashing at a rate of 4 to 6 flashes per second, they are so precisely regular that when radio astronomers first discovered them, the astronomers couldn't imagine a natural explanation and named them "LGM signals" - for "little green men". They might be, the suggestion went, some form of interstellar navigational beacon.

What do you mean when you say every pulsar is a neutron star but not every neutron star is a pulsar?

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All "pulsars" are neutron stars - it's just "we" term pulsars as neutron stars who's orientation towards us shows the beam of electromagnetic radiation.

Other neutron stars who's orientation, do not point towards us are not called pulsars, although they exhibit the same characteristics.

Is a pulsar a part of the solar system?

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There isn't a pulsar in our Solar System.

The closest known pulsar is 280 light years from us.