Pulsar
Crab Pulsar (PSR B0531+21)
The neutron star spinning 30 times a second at the heart of the 1054 supernova
The young pulsar powering the Crab Nebula: the core that collapsed in the supernova of 1054 now spins 30 times a second and pumps its rotational energy (100,000 times the Sun's total output) into the nebula through winds and beams. One of the first pulsars seen pulsing in radio, optical, X-rays and gamma rays; the first pulsar discovered through its optical pulses (1969).
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Period | 33.4 ms (30 Hz) |
| Spin-down | 4,2 × 10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | ~1,240 years (actual: 970) |
| Magnetic field | 3,8 × 10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.5 × 10³⁸ erg/s |
| Distance | 2,000 pc (6,500 light-years) |
| Discovery | 1968, Staelin & Reifenstein (NRAO) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 5h 34m 31.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +22° 00′ 52″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 68° S. North of latitude 68° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in December, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 6,523 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 116 million years.