SPACE ART Velar Pulsar Canvas Print

Artist's impression of the Vela pulsar, in the centre, and its magnetosphere, whose edge is marked by the bright circle. The blue tracks travelling outwards represent paths of accelerated particles. These produce gamma radiation along the arms of a rotating spiral by colliding with infrared photons emitted in the magnetosphere (in red). (Image credit: Science Communication Lab for DESY) Nearly 1,000 light-years from where you're sitting lies a spinning, highly magnetised neutron star that is so dense, a tablespoon of it equals something like the weight of Mount Everest. It's an intense sight, to say the least, which is why astronomers naturally love studying it. You might've even heard its name uttered before: The Vela Pulsar.