Pulsar
PSR B0906-17 (J0908-1739)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.402 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 | Hydra |
| Period | 401.6 ms |
| Period derivative | 6.7×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 9.5 million years |
| Magnetic field | 5.3×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.1×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 15.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 805 pc (2.6 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, gb2, misc, pks70, pkshl |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 9h 08m 38.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −17° 39′ 38″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 72° N. South of latitude 72° 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 601 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 47 million years.