BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Using China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), scientists have discovered 201 pulsars, including faint pulsars and millisecond pulsars.

The research was led by the National Astronomical Observatories (NAOC) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The findings were published in the journal Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics on Thursday.

Pulsars, or fast-spinning neutron stars, originate from the imploded cores of massive dying stars through supernova explosions.

They have the strongest magnetic fields, highest density, and fastest rotation of any celestial body in the universe, and are thus an ideal laboratory for studying the laws of physics in extreme environments, said Han Jinlin with the NAOC, leader of the research.

Since the first discovery in 1968, a total of about 3,000 pulsars have been discovered. Enditem