Pulsar
PSR B1039-19 (J1041-1942)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.39 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 | 1.386 s |
| Period derivative | 9.4×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 23 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.2×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.4×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 33.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,506 pc (8.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, misc, pks70 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 41m 36.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −19° 42′ 13″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 70° N. South of latitude 70° 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 8,174 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 145 million years.