A pulsar is formed when a very large star reaches the end of its life cycle. The large star becomes unstable as it uses up its fuel. It explodes as a supernova. The outer materials are blasted into space. The center collapses into a fast-spinning, radio-wave-emitting pulsar. The original solar system of planets, moons, and other bodies orbiting the star is destroyed as a result of the huge explosion.

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has been aimed in the direction of Cassiopeia (the Queen) at a pulsar star designated as 4U 0142+61. It’s about 13,000 light years away and probably went supernova about 100,000 years ago. Astronomers have found that some of the pulsar’s debris has remained near the pulsar and has formed a new disk around it. A new solar system can form or accrete from the disk, creating a completely new solar system. New planets already have been discovered orbiting pulsar B1257+12.