English: This movie from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows a fast moving jet of particles produced by a rapidly rotating neutron star, the Vela pulsar, and may provide new insight into the nature of some of the densest matter in the universe.

Vela is a neutron star that was formed when a massive star collapsed. The Vela pulsar is about 1,000 light years from Earth, spans about 12 miles in diameter, and makes over 11 complete rotations every second, faster than a helicopter rotor. As the pulsar whips around, it spews out a jet of charged particles that race out along the pulsar's rotation axis at about 70% of the speed of light. In this video, the jet emanating from the pulsar is 0.7 light years long.

The Chandra data shown in the movie, containing eight images obtained between June and September 2010 and continuously looped, suggest that the pulsar may be slowly wobbling, or precessing, as it spins. The shape and the motion of the Vela jet look strikingly like a rotating helix, a shape that is naturally explained by precession. If the evidence for precession of the Vela pulsar is confirmed, it would be the first time that a jet from a neutron star has been found to be wobbling, or precessing, in this way.

Scale: 4.8 x 3.6 arcmin (1.4 x 1.0 light years)
Coordinates: RA 08h 35m 20.60s; Dec -45° 10' 35.00"