Pulsar
PSR B0353+52 (J0357+5236)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.197 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 | 197.0 ms |
| Period derivative | 4.8×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 6.6 million years |
| Magnetic field | 3.1×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.5×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 103.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,900 pc (9.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, gbncc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 3h 57m 44.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +52° 36′ 58″ |
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 9,459 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 168 million years.