What celestial phenomena are observed from Earth due to a neutron star's rapid spin and magnetic field coupling?
Answer
Pulsars, observable as sweeping beams of electromagnetic radiation.
Newly formed neutron stars possess two key physical attributes inherited from the rapid stellar collapse: they spin extremely fast due to the conservation of angular momentum, and they possess immensely powerful magnetic fields. When the rotational axis and the magnetic axis are misaligned, these magnetic fields channel energy into highly focused beams of electromagnetic radiation. As the neutron star spins, these beams sweep across the cosmos, and if one sweeps past Earth, we detect it as a highly regular, pulsing signal known as a pulsar.
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