Such a cool story. If anyone wants to learn more about this specific observation click here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSR_B1919%2B21 For more clarification on specifically what the object (pulsar) is and how it's behavior could create this kind of image, go here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar but very briefly, these are the super dense remnants of exploded stars that did not form black holes. Rather they are super bright objects that sometimes shine their light directly at earth while rotating incredibly fast. That behavior ends up being observed by us as flashes of light.