Astronomers Find Brightest Pulsar Ever Observed

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday October 22, 2014 @05:17AM from the go-big-or-go-home dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Astronomers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the NuSTAR satellite have discovered a pulsar so bright that it challenges how scientists think pulsars work. While observing galaxy M82 in hopes of spotting supernovae, the researchers found an unexpected source of X-rays very close to the galaxy's core. It was near another source, thought to be a black hole. But the new one was pulsing, which black holes don't do. The trouble is that according to known pulsar models, it's about 100 times brighter than the calculated limits to its luminosity (abstract). Researchers used a different method to figure out its mass, and the gap shrank, but it's still too bright to fit their theories.

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Re:Who cares by Areyoukiddingme · 2014-10-22 10:17 · Score: 3, Insightful

The gap between the average idiot and the politician is a hares breath...
That'd be a "hair's breadth," as in the diameter of a hair. I don't think rabbit exhalations have anything to do with it.
Carry on.