Pulsar
PSR B0559-57 (J0600-5756)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 2.26 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 | Pictor |
| Period | 2.261 s |
| Period derivative | 2.8×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 13 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.5×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 9.5×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 30.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 553 pc (1.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, pks70 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 6h 00m 46.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −57° 56′ 54″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 32° N. South of latitude 32° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in December, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 222. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 32 million years.