Neutron Spin

Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars that can rotate anywhere from once every few seconds to over 700 times per second.

The fastest known pulsar spins 716 times per second.

This extreme rotation happens because the core of a massive star collapses down to a very small size—about 10 kilometers in diameter—while conserving its angular momentum.

Despite their small size, pulsars have an enormous moment of inertia, and their spin gives them huge rotational energy.

Some pulsars, especially the fastest ones, were spun up by pulling in matter from a companion star.

Over time, pulsars slowly lose energy and spin down due to strong magnetic fields acting like a brake, but this process takes millions of years.