Pulsar
PSR B0823+26 (J0826+2637)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.531 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 | Cancer |
| Period | 530.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.7×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.9 million years |
| Magnetic field | 9.6×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.5×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 19.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 500 pc (1.6 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1968 · gb1, ar327, ar4, gb4, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 8h 26m 51.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +26° 37′ 21″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 63° S. North of latitude 63° 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 395. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 29 million years.