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Deep in the constellation Aquila lies a nebula that looks like an expanding bubble. It is inflated by a tiny star the size of a city — a pulsar that makes several rotations per second and loses rotational energy. Usually, such bubbles shine exactly as brightly as their pulsar is powerful. But this bubble, named the 'Eagle Accelerator,' turned out to be brighter than it should be.

The LHAASO telescope in the mountains of China detected gamma rays from this nebula with energies above one hundred teraelectronvolts. That is tens of times more than the Large Hadron Collider can produce. Yet the pulsar inside is not a record-holder: its power is fifty times less than that of the pulsar in the Crab Nebula. And the luminosity in the hardest rays of the 'Eagle' is several times higher than that of the Crab.

X-ray measurements have shown that the magnetic field inside the nebula is on average very weak — about three microgauss. That is a hundred thousand times weaker than a refrigerator magnet. But it is precisely in such a weak field that, according to calculations, the acceleration efficiency approaches one hundred percent or even exceeds it. This means that almost all the energy the pulsar gives to the nebula goes not into heat, but into accelerating particles to extreme speeds.

Such a result does not fit into conventional theories. Scientists suggest that inside the nebula, magnetic field lines reconnect: they break and rejoin like rubber bands, releasing stored energy. This is that very 'booster' that works more efficiently than was thought possible. If this scenario is correct, then weak pulsars could turn out to be the main suppliers of the most energetic particles in the Galaxy.