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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.
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.