Radio-quiet neutron star

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A radio-quiet neutron star is a neutron star that does not seem to emit radio emissions like most other neutron stars.

Most neutron stars are pulsars, and emit radio radiation.

Quark stars, theoretical neutron star-like objects composed of quark matter, may be radio quiet, according to some theories.

More plausibly however, radio-quiet neutron stars may simply be pulsars which do not pulse in our direction. As pulsars spin, they emit radiation from their magnetic poles. When the magnetic poles do not lie on the axis of rotation, the magnetic poles appear to "wobble". When viewed from great astronomic distances, this radiation appears to pulse, colloquially called the "lighthouse effect". Observers with lines of sight close to parallel or perpendicular to the axis of rotation will not see this pulsing effect.