<p>My understanding is that we "see" pulsars (also called "supernova remnants") by the radio and/or other electromagnetic radiations which they emit, which come to us in regular pulses, like the light-beam on the conning-tower at an airport.  </p>

<p>This is because the beam of radiation shoots out along the magnetic-axis, while the object spins around its spin-axis, which might be considerably different from the magnetic-axis.</p>

<p>So if we are directly above, it seems that we might not receive any of the radiation, so we might not be able to "see" the object.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-03T06:38:01.657Z
I agree:  I recently pursued a conversation re this at this site.  Nobody who responded to my question could give any convincing evidence of any accurate DIRECT measurement of a pulsar's size.  The best they could do was to describe observations in which a pulsar which is part of an orbiting binary system crossed in front of its companion, a normal star, thus slightly reducing the amount of light observed from the normal star.  Given that the nearest pulsar is at least 250 light-years away from us, this is not a very accurate way to calculate its radius.
PERFESSER CREEK-WATER
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-01T21:34:03.753Z
2017-08-01T21:34:03.753Z
PERFESSER CREEK-WATER
<p>Have we ever seen a pulsar directly from above or below it's spin axis?</p>

<p>I am wondering if a pulsar seen from this angle would appear to be constantly spinning or if it would just appear like a normal star.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/HVHtz.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HVHtz.gif" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<pulsar>
What does a pulsar look like if viewed from above?
Jimmery
# What does a pulsar look like if viewed from above?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-08-01)

Have we ever seen a pulsar directly from above or below it's spin axis?

I am wondering if a pulsar seen from this angle would appear to be constantly spinning or if it would just appear like a normal star.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/HVHtz.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/HVHtz.gif)

**Tags:** pulsar


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-08-01. Score: 1

My understanding is that we "see" pulsars (also called "supernova remnants") by the radio and/or other electromagnetic radiations which they emit, which come to us in regular pulses, like the light-beam on the conning-tower at an airport.

This is because the beam of radiation shoots out along the magnetic-axis, while the object spins around its spin-axis, which might be considerably different from the magnetic-axis.

So if we are directly above, it seems that we might not receive any of the radiation, so we might not be able to "see" the object.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I agree:  I recently pursued a conversation re this at this site.  Nobody who responded to my question could give any convincing evidence of any accurate DIRECT measurement of a pulsar's size.  The best they could do was to describe observations in which a pulsar which is part of an orbiting binary system crossed in front of its companion, a normal star, thus slightly reducing the amount of light observed from the normal star.  Given that the nearest pulsar is at least 250 light-years away from us, this is not a very accurate way to calculate its radius.  

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