Wind-Accreting Pulsar Visualization

Visualization of the BP Crucis system showing the pulsar near closest approach to its companion, a blue hypergiant 40 times the Sun’s mass. Twice each orbit, the pulsar passes throuh a dense stream of plasma flowing from the companion, flaring up in X-rays as it does. In this sequence, the pulsar approaches, enters, and exits the stream.

During each four-day passage though the stream, the pulsar’s X-ray brightness flares as it pulls in some of the gas. At first, the gas forms a messy, turbulent accretion disk around the pulsar, and plasma spirals down to it. But as the pulsar moves deeper into the stream, there’s not enough angular momentum to support the disk, and it breaks up. At this point, plasma falls straight onto the pulsar. Later, as the pulsar nears the end of its passage, a messy accretion disk rebuilds, this time spinning in the opposite direction of the earlier disk.

Visualization of the accretion style of the pulsar as it begins its passage through the dense plasma stream produced by its companion. As the pulsar enters the stream, a turbulent accretion disk forms around it.Plasma spirals in a clockwise direction as it falls inward to reach the pulsar. As the pulsar gathers up this material, it erupts in powerful X-ray flares.

This visualization illustrates the direct accretion of the pulsar in the middle of its passage through a dense plasma stream produced by its companion. By moving deeper into the stream, the pulsar encounters a part of the flow that lacks the angular momentum needed to form a disk. The disk breaks up and plasma flows directly onto the pulsar.

This visualization illustrates the final accretion phase of the pulsar near the end of its passage through a dense plasma stream produced by its companion. The messy accretion disk returns, now spinning in the opposite direction of the first disk, as the pulsar nears the end of its four-day journey through the stream.