Image of a Pulsar

Pulsars are very rapidly spinning neutron stars surrounded by fantastically powerful magnetic fields (magnetospheres). The magnetosphere is shown as a blue translucent donut sectioned across.Pulsars emit beams of radiation (purple light) from their magnetic poles (in radio, x-ray, & gamma ray wavelengths). Their magnetic poles do not align with their rotational axis, and so the beams of radiation sweep around as the star rotates, giving an observer within the viewing cone a pulsing of radiation.