Pulsars - United States

llustration labeled u201cartistu2019s conceptu201d at right bottom corner. At left bottom corner, a partially illuminated, lemon-shaped exoplanet appears against a black background. This planet is most brightly illuminated at its elongated tip on its right side. On the left side, which is wider, the planet trails off into the darkness of the background. The planet is colored in varying, mottled shades of red, light pink, and fuchsia. Most of the pink occurs closest to the tip, while most of the fuchsia is at the top and bottom edges. At right top corner, a white beam emanates diagonally, oriented from 10 ou2019clock to 4 ou2019clock, from either side of a small, glowing, white star.

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NASA’s Webb Observes Exoplanet Whose Composition Defies Explanation

December 16, 2025

Scientists using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have observed a rare type of exoplanet, or planet outside our…

mysterious glow Milky Way Galaxy dark matter

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Mysterious Glow at the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy That Has Stumped Scientists for Decades May Have a Dark Explanation

October 19, 2025

Researchers from Johns Hopkins using powerful supercomputer simulations have determined that the most likely explanation for a mysterious…

Artist’s Impression of a MSP Binary System

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Astrophysicists Zero In on Source of Strange Gamma-Ray Signals

September 12, 2025

Artist’s impression of a MSP binary system. Credit: ESA & Francesco Ferraro (Bologna Astronomical Observatory) Millisecond pulsar binaries…

Near the center of these images lies the pulsar B1509-58, a rapidly spinning neutron star that is only about 12 miles in diameter. This tiny object is responsible for producing an intricate nebula (called MSH 15-52) that spans over 150 light-years, or about 900 trillion miles. The nebula, which is produced by energetic particles, resembles a human hand with a palm and extended fingers pointing to the upper right in a view from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Radio data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) provides new information about this exploded star and its environment. This image also contains optical data of hydrogen gas. The bright red and gold areas near the top of the image show the remains of the supernova that formed the pulsar.

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X-ray and Radio go ‘Hand in Hand’ in New Image

August 20, 2025

In 2009, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory released a captivating image: a pulsar and its surrounding nebula that is…