Pulsars that emit powerful gamma rays are known as gamma ray pulsars. If the neutron star happens to be aligned so that the poles face the earth, we see the radio waves every time one of the poles rotates into our line of sight. It is a similar effect as that of a lighthouse. As the lighthouse rotates, its light appears to a stationary observer to blink on and off. In the same way, the pulsar appears to be blinking as its rotating poles sweep past the earth.
Different pulsars pulse at different rates, depending on the size and mass of the neutron star.
Sometimes a pulsar may have a binary companion. In some cases, the pulsar may begin to draw in matter from this companion. The fastest pulsars can pulse at well over a hundred times a second. It blasts out in a giant explosion known as a supernova, the most powerful and violent event in the universe. Without the opposing force of nuclear fusion to balance it, gravity begins to pull the mass of the star inward until it implodes.