Pulsar
PSR B1001-47 (J1003-4747)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.307 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 | 307.1 ms |
| Period derivative | 2.1×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.4 million years |
| Magnetic field | 8.1×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.8×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 98.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 369 pc (1.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, ghrss, htru_pks, misc, pks70, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 03m 21.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −47° 47′ 01″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 42° N. South of latitude 42° 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 822. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 21 million years.