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Five million mph pulsar produces longest particle jet in the galaxy

20
Feb
2014

A pulsar moving at speeds of up to five million miles per hour has produced the longest particle jet ever seen by humans. The jet, ten times as long as the distance between our sun and its nearest star, was spotted by NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory, a telescope in orbit around the earth. The jet from the pulsar — known as IGR J11014-6103 — is peculiar for its distinctive corkscrew pattern, one that NASA says suggests the object is wobbling like a spinning top. Pulsars are types of neutron stars, incredibly dense objects that form when massive stars reach supernova. When theyre ejected from their dying parent star, pulsars usually produce jets along the same alignment as their spin axis.  IGR J11014-6103s jet and spin axis are almost at right angles to each other, perhaps explaining the jets strange shape.

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