Astronomers have made a thrilling discovery:** 10 new dead stars, or pulsars, have been detected lurking near the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. These pulsars are no ordinary stellar remnants; they're spinning, super-dense neutron stars with some truly bizarre characteristics.
What are Pulsars?
Pulsars are rapidly rotating, incredibly dense cores of collapsed massive stars. They emit beams of electromagnetic radiation that sweep across the sky like a lighthouse, which is why they're often referred to as "cosmic lighthouses."
The Terzan 5 Cluster
These newly discovered pulsars are located within the globular cluster Terzan 5, a densely packed region home to hundreds of thousands of stars. This extreme environment is thought to be responsible for the unusual properties of these pulsars.
A Variety of Weirdos
Scientists are particularly excited about the diversity of these pulsars. Some are spinning incredibly fast, while others exhibit strange behaviors that challenge our current understanding of neutron stars.