pulsar

noun

pul·​sar ˈpəl-ˌsär 

: a celestial source of pulsating electromagnetic radiation (such as radio waves) characterized by a short relatively constant interval (such as .033 second) between pulses that is held to be a rotating neutron star

Examples of pulsar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Last year, observations of the subtle movements of pulsating stars known as a pulsar timing array revealed a background hum of gravitational waves in the universe — ripples in the fabric of space-time. —Quanta Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024

Christiansen presents and writes on topics ranging from reconciling her love for art and science to her quest to learn more about the pulsar chart on the cover of Joy Division's album Unknown Pleasures. —Jen Christiansen, Scientific American, 24 Sep. 2024

This cloud of blue gas is known as a pulsar wind nebula, formed when the rapid rotations of a pulsing dead star clear gas away. —Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 July 2024

The antennas have enabled scientists to detect radio signals emitted during magnetic storms on the Sun, document the metronomic bursts from dead stellar cinders called pulsars, and discover the fine detail of lightning strikes on Saturn. —Byeric Lusito, science.org, 14 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

puls(ating) + -ar (in quasar)

Note: The coinage was apparently made by the astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943 in Northern Ireland) and Antony Hewish (born 1924 in England), who discovered the objects in November, 1967. The Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition, cites the following from the Daily Telegraph (March 5, 1968, p. 21): "The name Pulsar (Pulsating Star) is likely to be given to it … Dr. A. Hewish … told me yesterday: '…I am sure that today every radio telescope is looking at the Pulsars.'" The word pulsar was not used in the first formal report of the discovery (A. Hewish, S.J. Bell, et al., "Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source," Nature, vol. 217, February 24, 1968, pp. 709-13).

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above