Unprecedented Discovery: Pulsar Emission Shatters Energy Records

Astronomers have discovered the highest-energy outburst of light from a pulsar ever seen, indicating potential new physics around these dense, rapidly spinning dead stars. The gamma-ray output of the Vela pulsar was found to be around 200 times more powerful than average pulsars, with gamma-ray photons reaching 20 tera electron volts (TeV). This suggests that something unexpected is happening around the Vela pulsar and its polar jets, which have been observed to stretch as far as 0.7 light-years. The team proposed several possibilities for the powerful gamma-ray emission mechanism, including accelerated particles outside the standard light-cone zones, well-structured magnetic fields, or the bulk movement of winds from neutron stars. Further investigations will be conducted to understand the acceleration and emission processes in pulsars and their implications for other highly magnetized astrophysical objects.