Pulsar
PSR B0953-52 (J0955-5304)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.862 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 | 862.1 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.5×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.9 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.8×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.2×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 156.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 401 pc (1.3 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, ghrss, htru_pks, misc, pks70, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 9h 55m 29.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −53° 04′ 17″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 37° N. South of latitude 37° 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 718. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 23 million years.