Pulsar
PSR B0331+45 (J0335+4555)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.269 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 | Perseus |
| Period | 269.2 ms |
| Period derivative | 7.4×10⁻¹⁸ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 580 million years |
| Magnetic field | 4.5×10¹⁰ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.5×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 47.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,410 pc (7.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, lotaas, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 3h 35m 16.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +45° 55′ 53″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 44° S. North of latitude 44° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in November, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 7,860 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 139 million years.