This artistic animation illustrates how nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed the jets blasting off from its magnetic polar regions.

When in orbit with another star, the neutron star’s intense gravitational field can ‘suck’ material away from the nearby companion. The material swirls towards the collapsed object, circling it, forming a disk, and ultimately plunging to the surface. The crashing gravity on the neutron star’s surface violently compresses the accumulated material (consisting mostly of hydrogen) causing a runaway nuclear explosion. This in turn triggers the jets to suddenly intensify and eject particles into space at very high speed. 

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