NASA's Fermi finds a 'transformer' pulsar
Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - 15:01
in Astronomy & Space
In late June 2013, an exceptional binary containing a rapidly spinning neutron star underwent a dramatic change in behavior never before observed. The pulsar's radio beacon vanished, while at the same time the system brightened fivefold in gamma rays, the most powerful form of light, according to measurements by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.