As reported in Nature Astronomy (2024NatAs…8.1047H), IXPE observations reveal that the accreting X-ray pulsar is wobbling with a 35-day period and also precessing on a timescale of years. The fast wobble is similar to how a football wobbles as it flies through the air (so-called free precession) and the slower precession is similar to a top as the torque of the Earth’s gravity forces it to turn. In the case of Hercules X-1, the wobble reveals that the crust is asymmetric to a few parts in ten million, and the torques come from the material that the star is accreting.