Pulsar
PSR B0031-07 (J0034-0721)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.943 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cetus |
| Period | 943.0 ms |
| Period derivative | 4.1×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 37 million years |
| Magnetic field | 6.3×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.9×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 10.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,030 pc (3.4 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1969 · mol1, lotaas, misc, pks70 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 0h 34m 08.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | −7° 21′ 53″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 83° N. It stands highest at midnight in September, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 1334 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 60 million years.