| Description |
Pulsars are rapidly rotating compact (~20km) objects made out of neutrons. These solar-mass objects produce radio waves which are detected by telescopes such as the Parkes telescope. For every rotation of the star a beam of radiation sweeps over Earth and a pulse is detected. The slowest pulsars rotate with a period of a few seconds and the fastest one with a period of only 1 ms. Pulsars are known to be very precise clocks. Scientists know exactly at what time each pulse of radiation can be expected to arrive. However, strong deviations of these arrival times are observed and can be explained by variability in the shape of the beams of these cosmic lighthouses. We are now observing 14 pulsars from the southern sky to then analyse this variability in order to quantify the dynamic processes taking place in the magnetosphere of these stars.
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