Pulsar
PSR B0144+59 (J0147+5922)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.196 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 | 196.3 ms |
| Period derivative | 2.6×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 12 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.3×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.3×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 40.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,900 pc (6.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb3, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 1h 47m 44.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +59° 22′ 03″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 31° S. North of latitude 31° 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 6,197 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 110 million years.