If you have Java , as you speed up the Animation, you'll see the effect of the "flash" of the pulsar. This is a simulation that is slower than real life (depending on the speed of your computer, that is!). The human eye, even using a powerful telescope, cannot detect the flash of a pulsar such as the Crab. Pulsars emitting visible light look like normal stars. Powerful instruments are required to detect the flash.

NASA studies this phenomenon and other curious deep-space events. One instrument used is the Burst and Transient Source Experiment, an instrument on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, a NASA satellite.

The Java Source Code.

Back to Pulsar Model.


Authors: Dr. Robert Mallozzi (Pulsar Model)
Dr. John Horack (text)
Nicardo Alexander (Java Animation)
Curator: Linda Porter
NASA Official: Gregory S. Wilson

last update: July 12, 1996