Pulsar
PSR B0153+39 (J0156+3949)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.81 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 | 1.812 s |
| Period derivative | 1.5×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 189 million years |
| Magnetic field | 5.3×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.0×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 59.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,920 pc (16.0 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 1h 56m 55.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +39° 49′ 29″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 50° S. North of latitude 50° 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 16 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 285 million years.