Neutron stars have very intense magnetic fields, about 1,000,000,000,000 times stronger than Earth's own field. However, the axis of the magnetic field is not aligned with the neutron star's rotation axis. The combination of this strong magnetic field and the rapid rotation of the neutron star produces extremely powerful electric fields, with electric potential in excess of 1,000,000,000,000 volts. Electrons are accelerated to high velocities by these strong electric fields. These high-energy electrons produce radiation (light) in two general ways:
- Acting as a coherent plasma, the electrons work together to produce radio emission by a process whose details remain poorly understood;
- Acting individually, the electrons interact with photons or the magnetic field to produce high-energy emission such as optical, X-ray and gamma-ray.
