📡 Neutron Star Pulsar — 2D Lighthouse & Pulse-Profile Model

Real pulsars are rotating neutron stars whose magnetic axis is offset from their spin axis — the "oblique rotator" model. As the star spins, the magnetic pole's radio beam sweeps around like a lighthouse, and an observer on Earth only sees a flash when that beam happens to cross their line of sight. This 2D companion strips the 3D scene down to the geometry that actually produces the pulse: a top-down schematic shows the beam sweeping at a radius set by the magnetic obliquity α, a fixed marker represents Earth's line of sight at inclination ζ, and a scrolling light-curve panel plots the resulting flux in real time using the same formula radio astronomers use to model real pulsar profiles: cos(ρ) = cos(α)cos(ζ) + sin(α)sin(ζ)cos(phase), where ρ is the instantaneous angle between the beam and the line of sight. Drag the spin period down to see the flashes speed up, widen the beam to turn a narrow pulsar spike into a broad glow, or flip on the interpulse toggle to add the opposite magnetic pole and watch a second, offset peak appear in the light curve — exactly the kind of double-peaked profile seen in real interpulse pulsars like the Crab.