Research
Introduction
Pulsars are extremely dense, highly magnetized neutron stars
that are rotating rapidly, sometimes as fast as >600 times a
second. To put it in context, consider an object with the mass of
the Sun contained within a sphere of radius 10 km (approximately
the size of a city), and with a magnetic field 10 billion
times stronger than a typical fridge magnet, spinning at the rate
of a blender!
Pulsars fall into a larger class of objects known as neutron
stars. It is believed that neutron stars are formed in the event
of a supernova and are, in essence, the dense "dead" remains of
what once a very bright and massive star that exploded as a result
of runaway nucleosynthesis. The fact that they rotate and emit
regular pulses of electromagnetic radiation towards Earth, due to
a misalignment of their rotation and magnetic field axes, is what
distinguishes pulsars from other neutron stars.
If you are interested in learning more, there are many public
outreach resources available online. For instance:
Areas we study
The McGill Pulsar Group studies a diverse range of subjects in
observational pulsar astrophysics, using data from many of
the world's most important observatories and satellites. Below is
a list of some of the projects we are currently involved in.
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