Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Music: \"Reaching for the Horizon\" and \"Leaving Earth\" from Killer Tracks
Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
Complete transcript available.
", "items": [ { "id": 243708, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400729, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/Pulsar_Still_1_print.jpg", "filename": "Pulsar_Still_1_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Explore a new “pulsar in a box” computer simulation that tracks the fate of electrons (blue) and their antimatter kin, positrons (red), as they interact with powerful magnetic and electric fields around a neutron star. Lighter colors indicate higher particle energies. Each particle seen in this visualization actually represents trillions of electrons or positrons. 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Better knowledge of the particle environment around neutron stars will help astronomers understand how they produce precisely timed radio and gamma-ray pulses.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Reaching for the Horizon\" and \"Leaving Earth\" from Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 243710, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400731, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/Pulsar_Still_1_thm.png", "filename": "Pulsar_Still_1_thm.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Explore a new “pulsar in a box” computer simulation that tracks the fate of electrons (blue) and their antimatter kin, positrons (red), as they interact with powerful magnetic and electric fields around a neutron star. Lighter colors indicate higher particle energies. Each particle seen in this visualization actually represents trillions of electrons or positrons. Better knowledge of the particle environment around neutron stars will help astronomers understand how they produce precisely timed radio and gamma-ray pulses.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Reaching for the Horizon\" and \"Leaving Earth\" from Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 80, "height": 40, "pixels": 3200 } }, { "id": 243705, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400733, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/13058_Pulsar_Particle_Simulation_H264_1080.mov", "filename": "13058_Pulsar_Particle_Simulation_H264_1080.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Explore a new “pulsar in a box” computer simulation that tracks the fate of electrons (blue) and their antimatter kin, positrons (red), as they interact with powerful magnetic and electric fields around a neutron star. 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Better knowledge of the particle environment around neutron stars will help astronomers understand how they produce precisely timed radio and gamma-ray pulses.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Reaching for the Horizon\" and \"Leaving Earth\" from Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 243711, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400732, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/13058_Pulsar_Particle_Simulation_1080.webm", "filename": "13058_Pulsar_Particle_Simulation_1080.webm", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Explore a new “pulsar in a box” computer simulation that tracks the fate of electrons (blue) and their antimatter kin, positrons (red), as they interact with powerful magnetic and electric fields around a neutron star. Lighter colors indicate higher particle energies. 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Better knowledge of the particle environment around neutron stars will help astronomers understand how they produce precisely timed radio and gamma-ray pulses.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Reaching for the Horizon\" and \"Leaving Earth\" from Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 243712, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 850647, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/13058_Pulsar_Particle_Simulation_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt", "filename": "13058_Pulsar_Particle_Simulation_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "Explore a new “pulsar in a box” computer simulation that tracks the fate of electrons (blue) and their antimatter kin, positrons (red), as they interact with powerful magnetic and electric fields around a neutron star. 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The model traces the paths of charged particles in magnetic and electric fields near the neutron star, revealing behaviors that may help explain how pulsars emit gamma-ray and radio pulses with ultraprecise timing.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "items": [ { "id": 243714, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400734, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/Pulsar_Loop_AllParticles_Glow.gif", "filename": "Pulsar_Loop_AllParticles_Glow.gif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Electrons (blue) and positrons (red) from a computer-simulated pulsar. These particles become accelerated to extreme energies in a pulsar's powerful magnetic and electric fields; lighter tracks show particles with higher energies. Each particle seen here actually represents trillions of electrons or positrons. Better knowledge of the particle environment around neutron stars will help astronomers understand how they behave like cosmic lighthouses, producing precisely timed radio and gamma-ray pulses.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 600, "height": 336, "pixels": 201600 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 325181, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13058/#media_group_325181", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Still image of all particles.
Electrons (blue) and positrons (red) from a computer-simulated pulsar. These particles become accelerated to extreme energies in a pulsar's powerful magnetic and electric fields; lighter tracks show particles with higher energies. Each particle seen here actually represents trillions of electrons or positrons. Better knowledge of the particle environment around neutron stars will help astronomers understand how they behave like cosmic lighthouses, producing precisely timed radio and gamma-ray pulses.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "items": [ { "id": 243715, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400735, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/Pulsar_Still_2.jpg", "filename": "Pulsar_Still_2.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Scientists studying what amounts to a computer-simulated “pulsar in a box” are gaining a more detailed understanding of the complex, high-energy environment around spinning neutron stars, also called pulsars. The model traces the paths of charged particles in magnetic and electric fields near the neutron star, revealing behaviors that may help explain how pulsars emit gamma-ray and radio pulses with ultraprecise timing. \n\nA pulsar is the crushed core of a massive star that exploded as a supernova. The core is so compressed that more mass than the Sun's squeezes into a ball no wider than Manhattan Island in New York City. This process also revs up its rotation and strengthens its magnetic and electric fields. \n\nVarious physical processes ensure that most of the particles around a pulsar are either electrons or their antimatter counterparts, positrons. To trace the behavior and energies of these particles, the researchers used a comparatively new type of pulsar model called a “particle in cell” (PIC) simulation. \n\nThe PIC technique lets scientists explore the pulsar from first principles, starting with a spinning, magnetized neutron star. The computer code injects electrons and positrons at the pulsar's surface and tracks how they interact with the electric and magnetic fields. It's computationally intensive because the particle motions affect the fields and the fields affect the particles, and everything is moving near the speed of light.\n\nThe simulation shows that most of the electrons tend to race outward from the magnetic poles. Some medium-energy electrons scatter wildly, even heading back to the pulsar. \n\nThe positrons, on the other hand, mostly flow out at lower latitudes, forming a relatively thin structure called the current sheet. In fact, the highest-energy positrons here — less than 0.1 percent of the total — are capable of producing gamma rays similar to those detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has discovered 216 gamma-ray pulsars. \n\nThe simulation ran on the Discover supercomputer at NASA’s Center for Climate Simulation at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the Pleiades supercomputer at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California. The model actually tracks “macroparticles,” each of which represents many trillions of electrons or positrons.", "width": 2160, "height": 3840, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 325182, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13058/#media_group_325182", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Medium-energy electrons flowing with a pulsar's spinning magnetic field scatter wildly when they near the speed of light. The particles move with the magnetic field, which sweeps back and extends outward as the pulsar spins. Their rotational speed rises with increasing distance, but this can only go on so long because matter can’t travel at the speed of light. The distance where the plasma’s rotational velocity would reach light speed marks the location of a feature astronomers call the light cylinder, a region of abrupt change. As the electrons approach it, they suddenly slow down and many scatter wildly, even back to the pulsar. Others can slip past the light cylinder and out into space. Lighter tracks show particles with higher energies. Each particle seen here actually represents trillions of electrons.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "items": [ { "id": 243716, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400736, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/Pulsar_Loop_Electron_Glow.gif", "filename": "Pulsar_Loop_Electron_Glow.gif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Medium-energy electrons flowing with a pulsar's spinning magnetic field scatter wildly when they near the speed of light. The particles move with the magnetic field, which sweeps back and extends outward as the pulsar spins. Their rotational speed rises with increasing distance, but this can only go on so long because matter can’t travel at the speed of light. The distance where the plasma’s rotational velocity would reach light speed marks the location of a feature astronomers call the light cylinder, a region of abrupt change. As the electrons approach it, they suddenly slow down and many scatter wildly, even back to the pulsar. Others can slip past the light cylinder and out into space. Lighter tracks show particles with higher energies. Each particle seen here actually represents trillions of electrons. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 600, "height": 337, "pixels": 202200 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 325183, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13058/#media_group_325183", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Still image of electron-only simulation with label.
Medium-energy electrons flowing with a pulsar's spinning magnetic field scatter wildly when they near the speed of light. The particles move with the magnetic field, which sweeps back and extends outward as the pulsar spins. Their rotational speed rises with increasing distance, but this can only go on so long because matter can’t travel at the speed of light. The distance where the plasma’s rotational velocity would reach light speed marks the location of a feature astronomers call the light cylinder, a region of abrupt change. As the electrons approach it, they suddenly slow down and many scatter wildly, even back to the pulsar. Others can slip past the light cylinder and out into space.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "items": [ { "id": 243717, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400737, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/pulsar_still_electrons2.jpg", "filename": "pulsar_still_electrons2.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Still image of electron-only simulation with label.Medium-energy electrons flowing with a pulsar's spinning magnetic field scatter wildly when they near the speed of light. The particles move with the magnetic field, which sweeps back and extends outward as the pulsar spins. Their rotational speed rises with increasing distance, but this can only go on so long because matter can’t travel at the speed of light. The distance where the plasma’s rotational velocity would reach light speed marks the location of a feature astronomers call the light cylinder, a region of abrupt change. As the electrons approach it, they suddenly slow down and many scatter wildly, even back to the pulsar. Others can slip past the light cylinder and out into space.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 325184, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13058/#media_group_325184", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Similar to the still above, but showing the scattering electrons from a different angle. No label.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "items": [ { "id": 243718, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400738, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/Pulsar_Still_Electrons.jpg", "filename": "Pulsar_Still_Electrons.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Similar to the still above, but showing the scattering electrons from a different angle. No label.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 325185, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13058/#media_group_325185", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Still image, positrons only, with label.
The pulsar simulation shows that positrons mostly flow out from the surface at lower latitudes. They form a relatively thin structure called the current sheet. Lighter trails indicate greater particle energies. The highest-energy positrons in the simulation represent less than 0.1 percent of the total, but are capable of producing gamma rays similar to those observed, confirming the results of earlier studies. Each particle seen in this visualization actually represents trillions of positrons.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center", "items": [ { "id": 243719, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 400739, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013058/Pulsar_Still_Positrons.jpg", "filename": "Pulsar_Still_Positrons.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Still image, positrons only, with label.The pulsar simulation shows that positrons mostly flow out from the surface at lower latitudes. They form a relatively thin structure called the current sheet. Lighter trails indicate greater particle energies. The highest-energy positrons in the simulation represent less than 0.1 percent of the total, but are capable of producing gamma rays similar to those observed, confirming the results of earlier studies. Each particle seen in this visualization actually represents trillions of positrons. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 325186, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13058/#media_group_325186", "widget": "Basic text", "title": "For More Information", "caption": "", "description": "See [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/pulsar-in-a-box-reveals-surprising-picture-of-a-neutron-star-s-surroundings](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/pulsar-in-a-box-reveals-surprising-picture-of-a-neutron-star-s-surroundings)", "items": [], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "NASA Astrophysics" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Visualizer", "people": [ { "name": "Tom Bridgman", "employer": "Global Science and Technology, Inc." } ] }, { "role": "Science writer", "people": [ { "name": "Francis Reddy", "employer": "University of Maryland College Park" }, { "name": "Jeanette Kazmierczak", "employer": "University of Maryland College Park" } ] }, { "role": "Scientist", "people": [ { "name": "Gabriele Brambilla", "employer": "University of Milan" }, { "name": "Alice Harding", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" } ] }, { "role": "Narrator", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Editor", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] } ], "missions": [ "Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope" ], "series": [ "Astrophysics Features", "Astrophysics Stills", "Narrated Movies", "Pulsar Current Sheets" ], "tapes": [], "papers": [ "http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aab3e1/meta", "http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aab3e1/meta" ], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Universe" ], "keywords": [ "4K", "Ast", "Astrophysics", "Edited Feature", "Fermi", "HDTV", "Music", "Narrated", "Neutron Star", "Pulsar", "Space", "Star" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 14884, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14884/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA Supercomputer Probes Tangled Magnetospheres of Merging Neutron Stars", "description": "New supercomputer simulations explore the tangled magnetic structures around merging neutron stars. These structures, called magnetospheres, interact as the city-sized stars enter their final orbits. Magnetic field lines can connect both stars, break, and reconnect, while currents surge through surrounding plasma moving at nearly the speed of light. The simulations show that these systems may produce X-rays and gamma rays that future observatories should be able to detect. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterAlt text: Narrated video introducing simulations of merging neutron star magnetospheresMusic: “A Theory Develops,” Pip Heywood [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || NS_Binary_Sim_Still.jpg (5760x3240) [1.4 MB] || NS_Binary_Sim_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [67.6 KB] || NS_Binary_Sim_Still_thm.png (80x40) [5.2 KB] || 14884_NeutronStarBinarySim2_good.mp4 (1920x1080) [220.4 MB] || 14884_NeutronStarBinarySim2_best.mp4 (1920x1080) [363.9 MB] || NeutronStarBinarySimulationCaptions.en_US.srt [2.4 KB] || NeutronStarBinarySimulationCaptions.en_US.vtt [2.2 KB] || 14884_NeutronStarBinarySim2_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [1.7 GB] || ", "release_date": "2026-01-29T11:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2026-01-22T10:17:05.309486-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1159928, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014884/NS_Binary_Sim_Still_searchweb.png", "filename": "NS_Binary_Sim_Still_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "New supercomputer simulations explore the tangled magnetic structures around merging neutron stars. These structures, called magnetospheres, interact as the city-sized stars enter their final orbits. Magnetic field lines can connect both stars, break, and reconnect, while currents surge through surrounding plasma moving at nearly the speed of light. The simulations show that these systems may produce X-rays and gamma rays that future observatories should be able to detect. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterAlt text: Narrated video introducing simulations of merging neutron star magnetospheresMusic: “A Theory Develops,” Pip Heywood [PRS], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 14434, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14434/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA’s Fermi Mission Finds 300 Gamma-Ray Pulsars", "description": "This visualization shows 294 gamma-ray pulsars, first plotted on an image of the entire starry sky as seen from Earth and then transitioning to a view from above our galaxy. The symbols show different types of pulsars. Young pulsars blink in real time except for the Crab, which pulses slower because its rate is only slightly lower than the video frame rate. Millisecond pulsars remain steady, pulsing too quickly to see. The Crab, Vela, and Geminga were among the 11 gamma-ray pulsars known before Fermi launched. Other notable objects are also highlighted. Distances are shown in light-years (abbreviated ly).Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Fascination\" from Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Pulsar_Still.jpg (3840x2160) [3.5 MB] || Pulsar_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [105.5 KB] || Pulsar_Still_thm.png (80x40) [7.0 KB] || 14434_Fermi_Pulsar_Locations_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [93.9 MB] || 14434_Fermi_Pulsar_Locations_1080.webm (1920x1080) [10.0 MB] || Pulsar_Captions.en_US.srt [46 bytes] || Pulsar_Captions.en_US.vtt [56 bytes] || 14434_Fermi_Pulsar_Locations_4k_Good.mp4 (3840x2160) [112.8 MB] || 14434_Fermi_Pulsar_Locations_4k_Best.mp4 (3840x2160) [689.2 MB] || 14434_Fermi_Pulsar_Locations_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov (3840x2160) [4.5 GB] || ", "release_date": "2023-11-28T09:20:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-11-02T14:45:42.228176-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 860036, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014400/a014434/Pulsar_Still_searchweb.png", "filename": "Pulsar_Still_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This visualization shows 294 gamma-ray pulsars, first plotted on an image of the entire starry sky as seen from Earth and then transitioning to a view from above our galaxy. 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This version is generated with some simple reference objects for more general use.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 4638, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4638/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Pulsar Current Sheets - Magnetic Field Solution", "description": "This movie presents a basic tour around the simulation magnetic field. 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