Astronomers used NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to directly map the magnetic field around PSR J1101-6101, a rapidly spinning pulsar nicknamed the "Lighthouse," confirming that high-energy particles stream along magnetic field lines extending through the galaxy. The pulsar, located in the Lighthouse Nebula, spins 16 times per second and leaves behind a bright X-ray tail as it travels through interstellar gas. By measuring X-ray polarization -- the orientation of light's electric fields -- the team confirmed a long-standing theory that the pulsar's energetic electrons escape along the Milky Way's magnetic field structure.
The observations revealed an unexpected finding: the magnetic field is far more orderly than current models predicted, with significantly less turbulence in the filament than scientists anticipated. This suggests particles of different energies occupy distinct regions within the system, pointing to multiple acceleration mechanisms at work. The research, published July 9 in The Astrophysical Journal, required new analysis techniques to extract maximum information from the relatively faint X-ray source and provides new insight into how fast-moving pulsars inject energetic particles into the surrounding galaxy.