Pulsars

Pulsars

Radio telescopes have detected a large number of other objects which send out naturally pulsed radio signals. They were named pulsars. Like the object in the Crab Nebula, they are presumed to be rotating neutron stars.

Of these pulsars, only the Vela pulsar--which gets its name because of its location in the Vela (Sails) constellation--pulses at wavelengths shorter than radio.

Like the Crab pulsar, the Vela pulsar also pulses at optical and gamma ray wavelengths. However, unlike the Crab pulsar, it is not an X-ray pulsar. Aside from the mystery generated by these differences, scientists also debate the reasons for the pulses at gamma, X-ray and optical frequencies. As noted earlier, they agree on the origin of the radio pulses.