Pulsar Spectrum: The Mystery of Neutron Star's Black Body Emission Revealed

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Pulsars, initially detected as radio sources, also emit in visible light, X-rays, and gamma rays. Newly formed neutron stars have temperatures between 10^{11} to 10^{12} kelvin, but this drops to around 10^{6} K within a few years due to energy loss from neutrinos. At this lower temperature, neutron stars primarily emit X-rays, while their rotational beams are observed in the radio spectrum. In visible light, neutron stars emit energy uniformly across the spectrum, appearing white. The discussion highlights the complexity of neutron star emissions and their varying wavelengths.
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I know that pulsars have been discovered as radio sources. But ... where does the hypothetical black body spectrum of a neutron star peak? Does it emit more in radio or in X rays?
Thank you
 
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Although the first detected pulsars emitted in radio wavelengths, they have, subsequently, been found to emit in visible light, X-ray, and/or gamma ray wavelengths.

Your question might be read as a question about a neutron star temperature: well, the temperature inside a newly formed neutron star is from around 10^{11} to 10^{12} kelvin. However, the huge number of neutrinos it emits carries away so much energy that the temperature falls within a few years to around 10^{6} K. At this temperature, most of the light generated by a neutron star is in X-rays. Note that in visible light, neutron stars probably radiate approximately the same energy in all parts of visible spectrum, and therefore appear white.

The beam due to their rotation is expected to be in the radio spectrum: in fact we observe periodic-variability in the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

I hope I studied well in order to answer your question correctly.
 
Very good! Thank you for your answer! By the way, it seems like you're studying for an astronomy exam!
 
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