Old pulsars still have new tricks to teach us
The super-sensitivity of ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory has shown that the
prevailing theory of how stellar corpses, known as pulsars, generate their
X-rays needs revising. In particular, the energy needed to generate the
million-degree polar hotspots seen on cooling neutron stars may come
predominately from inside the pulsar, not from outside.
More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMB6IBUQPE_index_0.html