Pulsar
PSR B0154+61 (J0157+6212)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 2.35 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 | 2.352 s |
| Period derivative | 1.9×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 197 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 2.1×10¹³ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.7×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 30.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,820 pc (5.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1972 · jb1, gb3, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 1h 57m 49.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +62° 12′ 27″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 28° S. North of latitude 28° 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 5,936 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 105 million years.