What is the difference between a pulsar and a quasar?

Pulsars and quasars are both astronomical objects, but they are fundamentally different from one another. A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. A quasar, on the other hand, is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy.

The main difference between the two is that pulsars are small and relatively close to Earth, while quasars are much larger and much farther away. Pulsars are typically only a few kilometers in diameter and are located within our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Quasars, on the other hand, are among the most distant objects in the universe and are found in the centers of galaxies billions of light-years away.

Another difference between pulsars and quasars is that pulsars emit radiation in a narrow beam that sweeps across the sky like a lighthouse, while quasars emit radiation in all directions. Pulsars are also much less luminous than quasars, with a typical pulsar emitting only about one-thousandth as much energy as a quasar.