Caption: A diagram of a pulsar and its magnetic field illustrated by magnetic field lines.
The sphere at the center is the neutron star which is the pulsar itself. The curves are a representative set of magnetic field lines for the dipole magnetic field of the pulsar. The blue zones emerging from axis of the magnetic poles are the emission regions for beams of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) most obviously strong in the radio band 0.1 cm -- 10**5 km. The blue zones precess as the pulsar rotates on its rotation axis which is not the same as the axis of the magnetic poles as illustrated.
Observers closely aligned with the cones swept out by the blue zones observe radio pulses which is why pulsars are so called.
The period of radio pulses range from milliseconds (for millisecond pulsars) to seconds.
The process for radio emission from the blue zones is very complex and has NOT circa 2020s been fully elucidated
Credit/Permission: ©
User:Mysid,
User:Jm smits,
2007 /
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Image link: Wikimedia Commons:
File:Pulsar schematic.svg.
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File: Neutron star file:
pulsar_magnetic_field_diagram.html.