Pulsar
PSR B0611+22 (J0614+2229)
Young pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.335 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 | Gemini |
| Period | 335.0 ms |
| Period derivative | 5.9×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 89 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 4.5×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 6.2×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 96.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,500 pc (11.4 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1972 · jb1, ar327, gb1, gb3, gb4, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 6h 14m 17.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +22° 29′ 57″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 68° S. North of latitude 68° N 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 11 thousand 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 203 million years.