Pulsar
PSR B0538-75 (J0536-7543)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.25 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 | Mensa |
| Period | 1.246 s |
| Period derivative | 5.8×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 34 million years |
| Magnetic field | 8.6×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.2×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 18.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 143 pc (466.4 ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, misc, pks70 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 5h 36m 30.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −75° 43′ 54″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 14° N. South of latitude 14° S it never sets.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 1560. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 8.3 million years.