Pulsar
PSR B0339+53 (J0343+5312)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.93 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 | Camelopardalis |
| Period | 1.934 s |
| Period derivative | 1.3×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.3 million years |
| Magnetic field | 5.2×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 7.3×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 67.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,705 pc (5.6 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · gb1, gb2, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 3h 43m 12.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +53° 12′ 53″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 37° S. North of latitude 37° 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 5,561 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 99 million years.