Pulsar
PSR B0809+74 (J0814+7429)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.29 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 | 1.292 s |
| Period derivative | 1.7×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 122 million years |
| Magnetic field | 4.7×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.1×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 5.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 432 pc (1.4 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1968 · gb1, gb2, gb4, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 8h 14m 59.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +74° 29′ 06″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 16° S. North of latitude 16° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in January, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 617. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 25 million years.