Erbil Gügercinoğlu

The pulsar in the Crab Nebula blinks like a lighthouse: every 33 milliseconds it sends out a radio pulse, and it does so with the precision of atomic clocks. But sometimes its rotation stumbles: the star suddenly speeds up slightly, as if something inside it is shifting.

89 milliseconds. That's how long a vortex avalanche lasts that abruptly speeds up the rotation of the Vela pulsar — one of the most famous 'glitching' pulsars. Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars born in the collapse of supernovae.