Video: The crazy dance of Vela neutron stars

The US space telescope detected a rotating neutron star at a speed greater than the helicopter propeller between a cloud of fuzzy gas like a ghost.

The Chandra Space Telescope of America, the type of glass capable of capturing X-rays, detects a neutron star with masked gas clouds about 1,000 light-years from Earth. Vela, the name of that star, is the remnant of a supernova that exploded some 10,000 years ago and collapsed inside.

Vela's diameter is greater than 19km and it rotates at a rate of 11 times per second - faster than the helicopter rotor. In the process of rotating it continuously spits out charged particles. Those particles move at a speed of 70% of the speed of light. Hordes of hot air around Vela create a fuzzy shape like ghosts.

Most neutron stars have a mass of 1.35 to 2.1 times the sun, meaning they are heavier than white dwarfs and lighter than black holes. Due to the density of matter in the massive neutron star, their attraction is 200 billion to 3,000 billion times larger than the earth.