pulsar
nounEtymology Blend of pulsating + (radio) star, patterned after quasar. Coined by British astronomers Antony Hewish and Jocelyn Bell in 1968, and first used in print in The Daily Telegraph. By surface analysis, pulse + -ar
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Astronomy, Natural sciences A rotating neutron star that emits radio pulses periodically.
- Rapidly rotating dead stars, pulsars are so named because as they spin, they release beams of electromagnetic radiation across space that appear to pulse like celestial lighthouses. But a pulsar called PSR J1023+0038, located about 4,500 light-years away from Earth in the Sextans constellation, is even more unusual in that some of the pulses are brighter than others, almost like it’s switching between different modes.2023 August 30, Ashley Strickland, “Astronomers solve the puzzle of an unusual pulsing dead star”, in CNN:
- Synonyms
- PSR
- Derived terms
- accretion-powered pulsar, binary pulsar, circumpulsar, double pulsar, gamma pulsar, millisecond pulsar, optical pulsar, PSR, pulsar clock, pulsarlike, pulsar wind nebula, radiopulsar, rotation-powered pulsar, X-ray pulsar
- Related terms
- astronomical object, astrophysical object, astrophysical source, celestial object, heavenly body
- Hypernyms
- neutron star, star, variable star
- Hyponyms
- accretion-powered pulsar, gamma pulsar, magnetar, millisecond pulsar, optical pulsar, rotation-powered pulsar, RRAT, SGR