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From NewScienstistSpace.com:<ul type="square"><b>Neutron star may sport four magnetic poles</b><br /><br />The neutron star inside the Crab Nebula may have four magnetic poles, rather than the usual two – unlike any other astronomical object known. The poles may have somehow been frozen into the neutron star when it was formed in a supernova explosion.<br /><br />A neutron star is the dense stellar corpse left behind after a relatively massive star dies in a supernova explosion. Some neutron stars, like the one in the Crab Nebula supernova remnant, are called pulsars because astronomers detect regular radio pulses coming from them. <br /><br />The pulses are thought to result from lighthouse-like beams of radio energy shooting from the neutron star's magnetic poles that sweep across the Earth as the star rotates.<br /><br />Usually the beam from only one pole is seen. But sometimes a second, weaker signal can be detected if the beam from the other pole points roughly in Earth's direction when it comes into view. The Crab pulsar has long been known to display weaker, secondary pulses.<br /><br />Now, observations of unprecedented detail have revealed that the primary and secondary pulses are radically different, casting doubt on the idea that they simply come from opposite magnetic poles. Instead, some astronomers speculate that the secondary pulses are related to an additional pair of magnetic poles.<br /><br />...<br /><br />The observations have revealed other surprises, as well. Because the primary pulse emission lasts just 0.4 nanoseconds, it may arise in an extremely small region just 12 centimetres across, where a cloud of plasma is trapped above the surface of the neutron star.<br /><br /><b>If this conclusion is correct, the grapefruit-sized patch would be the tiniest individual object ever observed in astronomy, Hankins says.</b> <br /><br />...(More at t</ul> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>***</p> </div>