Pulsar
PSR B0904-74 (J0904-7459)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.550 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 | Carina |
| Period | 549.6 ms |
| Period derivative | 4.6×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 19 million years |
| Magnetic field | 5.1×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.1×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 49.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 962 pc (3.1 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, misc, pks70 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 9h 04m 10.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −74° 59′ 43″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 15° N. South of latitude 15° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in February, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 1113 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 56 million years.