Pulsar
PSR B0905-51 (J0907-5157)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.254 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 | Vela |
| Period | 253.6 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.8×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.2 million years |
| Magnetic field | 6.9×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.4×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 103.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 340 pc (1.1 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, ghrss, htru_pks, misc, pks1, pks70, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 9h 07m 15.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | −51° 57′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 38° N. South of latitude 38° 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 the year 917. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 20 million years.