Pulsar
PSR B0037+56 (J0040+5716)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.12 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 | Cassiopeia |
| Period | 1.118 s |
| Period derivative | 2.9×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 6.2 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.8×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.1×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 92.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,420 pc (7.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 0h 40m 32.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +57° 16′ 25″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 33° S. North of latitude 33° N it never sets. 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 7,893 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 140 million years.