1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,980 [Music throughout] 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:10,040 This pulsar is leaving a glowing trail as it races through our galaxy. 3 00:00:10,060 --> 00:00:12,040 4 00:00:12,060 --> 00:00:17,040 A pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star, the superdense remnant of a star destroyed in a supernova. 5 00:00:17,060 --> 00:00:21,040 6 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:25,040 Some pulsars track through space at high speeds. Why? 7 00:00:25,060 --> 00:00:27,040 8 00:00:27,060 --> 00:00:33,040 Astronomers think an uneven supernova explosion may give a swift kick to a newborn pulsar. 9 00:00:33,060 --> 00:00:36,980 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,040 The pulsar – called J0002+6216 – is among the swiftest, moving at nearly 2.5 million mph (4 million kph)… 11 00:00:42,060 --> 00:00:47,040 Fast enough to go from Earth to the Moon in 6 minutes. 12 00:00:47,060 --> 00:00:50,980 13 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:57,040 The pulsar shines brightly in gamma rays and was found by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. 14 00:00:57,060 --> 00:01:01,040 15 00:01:01,060 --> 00:01:06,980 Fermi data also allowed direct measurement of the pulsar’s speed through space. 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,980 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:20,040 The pulsar's trail, mapped by the Very Large Array radio telescope, points back to the heart of the 10,000-year-old supernova remnant, CTB 1. 18 00:01:20,060 --> 00:01:22,040 19 00:01:22,060 --> 00:01:23,980 20 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,980 Further study of this object will shed more light on how supernovae are able to 'kick' neutron stars to such high speed. 21 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:36,200 22 00:01:36,220 --> 00:01:47,170 Faster than 99 percent of all pulsars with measured speeds, this one will eventually escape our galaxy. 23 00:01:47,190 --> 00:01:51,310 NASA Astrophysics 24 00:01:51,330 --> 00:01:57,370 [Beeping] 25 00:01:57,390 --> 00:01:59,833 [Beeping]