What exactly are pulsars? They are superdense, rapidly spinning neutron stars that are left behind when a massive star explodes. They were first discovered in 1967. Recently, astronomers have spotted pulsars hurtling through space.
“This pulsar has completely escaped the remnant of debris from the supernova explosion. It’s very rare for a pulsar to get enough of a kick for us to see this,” said Dr. Frank Schinzel, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).
“Measuring the pulsar’s motion and tracing it backwards shows that it was born at the center of the remnant, where the supernova explosion occurred. The pulsar now is 53 light-years from the center of CTB 1,” said Dr. Matthew Kerr, of the Naval Research Laboratory.
Watch the video above to learn more!