Tags: Star.
PSR J0738-4042 is the first pulsar observed to have been affected by asteroids.It was originally discovered in 1968. In 2013 scientists at CSIRO announced that they had observed changes in the pulsar’s spin rate and the shape of its radio pulse indicating that asteroids were encountering it including one with a mass of about a billion tons.We think the pulsar’s radio beam zaps the asteroid vaporising it.