Pulsar
PSR B1036-58 (J1038-5831)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.662 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 | Carina |
| Period | 662.0 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.3×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.3 million years |
| Magnetic field | 9.2×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.7×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 72.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 918 pc (3.0 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1992 · pks1, htru_pks, misc, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 38m 19.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −58° 31′ 27″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 31° N. South of latitude 31° 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 969 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 53 million years.