Neutron stars can be highly magnetized, and because of this magnetization they may emit a directional beam of electromagnetic radiation that sweeps across the sky once per rotational period — the “lig...Neutron stars can be highly magnetized, and because of this magnetization they may emit a directional beam of electromagnetic radiation that sweeps across the sky once per rotational period — the “lighthouse effect.” If the earth lies in the plane of the beam, a periodic signal can be detected, and the star is referred to as a pulsar.
