Pulsar
PSR B0105+68 (J0108+6905)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.07 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 | 1.071 s |
| Period derivative | 4.8×10⁻¹⁷ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 353 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.3×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.5×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 61.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,981 pc (6.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 1h 08m 29.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +69° 05′ 53″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 21° S. North of latitude 21° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in October, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 6,461 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 115 million years.