Now we observe the brightest ones at almost every wavelength of light . Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that have jets of particles moving at the speed of light streaming out their two magnetic poles . These jets produce very powerful beams of light . Therefore, the beam of light from the jet sweeps around as the pulsar rotates, just as the spotlight in a lighthouse does. Like a ship in the ocean that sees only regular flashes of light, we see pulsars turn on and off as the beam sweeps over the Earth.
Some pulsars also emit X-rays .
In pulsars which are part of supernova remnants, the x-rays result from the jets of material streaming out along the magnetic field of the pulsar. Below, we see the famous Crab Nebula , an undisputed example of a neutron star formed during a supernova explosion. These images are from the Einstein X-ray observatory. Show me a printable version of this page. Please let us know .