Pulsars: What are they? Why do they spin so fast?

Today, the nature of certain cosmic phenomena (like stars, supernovae and black holes) are well understood by those outside research physics, as they are not only written about extensively - due, in part, to how much funding is generated to further our knowledge of them - but because most of this information makes its way into the public domain of scientific literature. However, several flavors of wonder - like quasars, blazars and magnetars - are often looked over in favor of more well-known objects. Another one is neutron stars. They can be regarded as the objects that "didn"t quite make it" to become a black hole. As such, for many, they are skipped over as uninteresting and/or not worth the time. If you are one of those people, you have no idea what you are missing out on. Neutron stars are truly some of the most mind-bending objects in the universe.

See why here: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/pulsars-what-are-they-why-do-they-spin-so-fast-2/

Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center