• Cosmic Fishbones: Strange Radio Streaks Behind a Racing Pulsar bySandy Chiu| Feb 21, 2026 |Daily Paper Summaries|0 comments Title:Radio streaks in the Lighthouse Nebula discovered with MeerKAT - Particles escaping from the tail and illuminating the ambient magnetic fieldAuthors: Pierrick Martin, Mickael Coriat, Barbara Olmi, Elena Amato, Niccolò Bucciantini, Alexandre Marcowith, Sarah RecchiaFirst Author’s Institution: IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES, F-31028 Toulouse, FranceStatus: Submitted to A&A (available on Arxiv) Pulsarsare rapidly spinning, highly magnetizedneutron stars, the dense remnants left behind after massive stars explode. • As they spin down, pulsars release their rotational energy into their surroundings, inflating bright structures calledpulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). • In these nebulae, powerful shocks heat the surrounding gas and accelerate particles like electrons and protons to extreme energies, turning them intocosmic rays. • These energetic particles do not keep their energy forever. • As they travel, they lose energy through radiation processes such assynchrotron emission(when charged particles spiral around magnetic field lines) andinverse-Compton scattering(when particles transfer energy to low-energy photons). • Fortunately for astronomers, these radiation processes make cosmic rays visible, allowing us to trace how energy from pulsars is transported into their environments.

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  • Title: Radio streaks in the Lighthouse Nebula discovered with MeerKAT - Particles escaping from the tail and illuminating the ambient magnetic field Authors: Pierrick Martin, Mickael Coriat, Barbara Olmi, Elena Amato, Niccolò Bucciantini, Alexandre Marcowith, Sarah Recchia First Author’s Institution: IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES, F-31028 Toulouse, France Status: Submitted to A&A (available on Arxiv) Pulsars are rapidly spinning, highly magnetized neutron stars, the dense remnants left behind after massive stars explode. As they spin down, pulsars release their rotational energy int

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