Holy Freakin' Pulsars, Batman!

[Lucidity]

So, you like speed, do 'ya? Think your V8 goes fast? It ain't got nothin' on a pulsar; a rapidly-pulsing neutron star.

These bad boys rotate on their axis at a prodigious rate - up to 716 times a second! Check 'em out! (Warning: You may want to turn your speakers down for some of these.)

• PSR B0329+54 is a typical pulsar. It rotates around 1.40 times a second.

• PSR B0833-45, The Vela Pulsar lies at the center of the Vela supernova remnant, which is the debris of the explosion of a massive star about 10,000 years ago. This pulsar rotates about 11 times a second.

• PSR B0531+21, The Crab Pulsar is the youngest known pulsar and lies at the center of the Crab Nebula. The explosion was witnessed by Europeans and Chinese in the year 1054 A.D. as a day-time light in the sky. It rotates at about 30 times a second.

• PSR J0437-4715 is a recently discovered millisecond pulsar - an old pulsar which has been spun up by the accretion of material from a binary companion star as it expands in its red giant phase. The accretion process results in orbital angular momentum of the companion star being converted into rotational angular momentum of the neutron star, which is now rotating at about 174 times a second.

• PSR B1937+21 is the second fastest known pulsar, rotating at about 642 times a second! The surface of this star is moving at about 1/7th the velocity of light and illustrates the ENORMOUS gravitational forces which prevent it from flying apart due to the immense centrifugal forces. (Warning: This is loud!)

[Thief Of Navarre]

Would certainly make your trip down to Wallmart abit faster