Astronomers studying black holes have serendipitously found another rarity: A dead star rocketing away from its birth supernova, leaving a comet-like trail of radio emission in its wake.
In many cases, these stellar remnants can be found
in the nebula created by their exploded remains. But if the supernova explosion is lopsided, the uneven energy distribution can meet the neutron star across space at high speeds, zooming across the galaxy.First, the neutron star has to be a pulsar – one that is rotating at high speeds, so named because it"pulses" like a cosmic lighthouse as beams of radiation shoot from its poles, guided and accelerated by powerful magnetic fields.
Those magnetic fields also accelerate charged particles into a furious wind that whips around the pulsar, sometimes interacting with the surrounding interstellar medium to generate aBut if that pulsar receives a natal kick by an uneven supernova, a bow shock forms in the direction of travel, redirecting and channeling the pulsar wind behind the pulsar, like the tail of a comet.
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