Are you one of the authors of this paper? Email us from your institutional or work email address mentioning this article's arXiv ID and we'll verify you and give you edit access to this page.
Are you an author who sees something we missed or got wrong? Write to us — the subject line already carries the paper id. We read every note and correct the write-up.
Are you an author of this paper and would prefer our analysis not to be published? Email us from your institutional address; once confirmed, we will take the page down.
An X-ray tail from a fast-moving star matches gamma-ray emission — particles stream away in a straight line, like water from a hose.
📄 Showing the "Simple" version — "Advanced" is not ready yet. Add it to favorites to help prioritize it.
Pulsar PSR J1740+1000 is a city-sized star spinning faster than a kitchen blender. After a supernova explosion, it left behind a dense core that accelerates particles to near-light speeds. These particles fly into space, and previously it was thought they scatter in all directions, like splashes from a stone thrown into water.
The new image shows: particles fly in a narrow stream, like water from a garden hose, not spreading out in a fan.
The Einstein Probetelescope spotted a long X-ray tail stretching from the pulsar. Nearby, in the same direction, the LHAASO detector caught ultra-high-energy gamma rays. It turned out that both 'tails' coincide, as if a water jet were illuminated by a flashlight. This is the first observation where a pulsar's X-ray tail matches gamma-ray emission.
This coincidence is simply explained: the same neutron stars accelerate electrons that glow in X-rays (like neon in a lamp), and then those same electrons collide with light photons and knock out gamma-ray quanta (like a billiard ball striking another ball). So, particles don't need to be re-accelerated along the way: they retain their energy. They travel about 10 light-years from the pulsar, moving in a straight line, as if on rails.
Usually, particles were thought to scatter immediately, like smoke in the wind. Here they stay together, as if guided by an invisible magnetic trough.