Pulsar
PSR B0906-49 (J0908-4913)
Radio pulsar · in the remnant G270.4-1.0
A neutron star spinning once every 0.107 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 | 106.8 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.5×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 112 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 1.3×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.9×10³⁵ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 180.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,000 pc (3.3 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G270.4-1.0 |
| Discovery | 1988 · misc, FermiAssoc, htru_pks, pks1, pks70, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 9h 08m 35.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −49° 13′ 05″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 41° N. South of latitude 41° 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 1237 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 58 million years.