Is it possible to make the pulses that pulsars give off in KSP?

[electricpants]

I want to know because I am making a mod about a pulsar that has a protoplanetary disk around it that's forming planets, and I just want a nice visual effect for the pulsar.

[swjr-swis]

A few issues with the idea:

• Pulsars are, as far as is known, neutron stars, which are formed after a massive star at the end of its normal fuel burn collapses and blows away the outer layers in a supernova. At that point in the star's evolution, there would not be a protoplanetary disk or planet formation anymore, and all but the most massive and dense objects in the system would've been blown away by the supernova explosion.
• Neutron stars by their nature emit most of their energy in the very high energy range, beyond the visible spectrum (in fact it is thought most of their energy is emitted in neutrinos). The pulsed beam is thought to be the result of an even higher energy process (think hard x-ray, gamma-ray). So the actual beam/pulse would be hard to visualize as it is not in visible light.
• The pulses are caused by two relatively narrow beams that rotate very rapidly at a small angle from the axis of rotation. The beam itself would be practically invisible unless and when one is directly in the path of the beam, even if one were observing in the correct spectrum.
• At intra-system distances, crossing the path of the beam would likely be instantly catastrophic to any craft, instrument or occupant, considering the vast amount of very high energy radiation/particles emitted. So any in-system observation of the beam would very possibly be a (very spectacular) one-time event.

All that said: I'd be curious to see what an artistical mind can come up with to visualize this. I have my doubts about one posted on Wikipedia, but it gives an idea.

[Geschosskopf]

It might be possible to make such effects..   @Sigma88 could probably give you some tips.  He made one star eating its partner in his Galactic Neighborhood mod.

[Sigma88]

as far as I know this is not possible with kopernicus alone, you would need to write a dll for that I suppose

[electricpants]

4 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

not be a protoplanetary disk

I based this off the Lich system, which has 3 planets in stable, low-eccentricity orbits around a pulsar, the innermost being the first exoplanet ever discovered. We think that some of the supernova material fell into orbit in a protoplanetary disk-like fashion, and so the planets began accreting.

The only other pulsar with a planet's planet is the left-over of a white dwarf mostly eaten by the pulsar, and is such, a diamond planet.

1 hour ago, Sigma88 said:

not possible with kopernicus alone

Awww...

Thanks anyways for letting me know!

[electricpants]

4 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

catastrophic to any craft, instrument or occupant

That's supposed to be the point!

Very hard to, you know, leave once you get there.

Now I feel kinda bad.

[Vanamonde]

Since it's about modding, this question has been moved to the modding subforum. 

[RA3236]

9 hours ago, Sigma88 said:

as far as I know this is not possible with kopernicus alone, you would need to write a dll for that I suppose

Well, it probably is, but just too complicated.

[Sigma88]

3 hours ago, RA3236 said:

Well, it probably is, but just too complicated.

no kopernicus cannot limit the energy emission from a star to a specific cone, and it can't change the intensity overtime either.