How It Works
An X-ray pulsar consists of a magnetized neutron star in orbit with a normal stellar companion and are a type of binary star system. The magnetic field strength at the surface of the neutron star is typically about 108 Tesla, over a trillion times stronger than the strength of the magnetic field measured at the surface of the Earth (60 nT).
Gas is accreted from the stellar companion and is channeled by the neutron star's magnetic field on to the magnetic poles producing two or more localized X-ray hot spots similar to the two auroral zones on the Earth but far hotter. At these hotspots the infalling gas can reach half the speed of light before it impacts the neutron star surface. So much gravitational potential energy is released by the infalling gas, that the hotspots, which are estimated to about one square kilometer in area, can be up to ten thousand times or more luminous than the Sun.
Temperatures of millions of degrees are produced so the hotspots emit mostly X-rays. As the neutron star rotates, pulses of X-rays are observed as the hotspots move in and out of view if the magnetic axis is tilted with respect to the spin axis.
Read more about this topic: Accretion-powered Pulsars
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