Pulsar
PSR B0045+33 (J0048+3412)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.22 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 | Andromeda |
| Period | 1.217 s |
| Period derivative | 2.4×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.2 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.7×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.2×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 39.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,500 pc (14.7 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, ar327, gb3, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 0h 48m 34.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +34° 12′ 08″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 56° S. North of latitude 56° 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 15 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 260 million years.