News in Brief Astronomy

Some pulsars lose their steady beat

New discoveries hint at hidden population of neutron stars

Arecibo Observatory

IRREGULAR PULSARS  Two pulsars discovered by the Arecibo Observatory (shown) spend most of their time not pulsing, suggesting a large population of undiscovered pulsars in the Milky Way.

Arecibo Observatory/NAIC/NSF

By Christopher Crockett

- More than 2 years ago

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS — A pair of cosmic radio beacons known as pulsars keep switching off and on, suggesting that there might be vast numbers of undiscovered pulsars hiding in our galaxy.