‘Cannonball’ pulsar points to the supernova that formed it

Pulsars are superdense neutron stars that form out of massive supernovae. They can only be found when their electromagnetic beams points directly to Earth like a nuclear-powered lighthouse. Pulsars have been found to rotate as fast as 1.6 milliseconds, or 38,500 rpm. They pick up the angular momentum of the massive stars that formed them, …

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