Pulsar
PSR B1131-62 (J1133-6250)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.02 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 | Centaurus |
| Period | 1.023 s |
| Period derivative | 4.6×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 35 million years |
| Magnetic field | 7.0×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.7×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 568.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 7,452 pc (24.3 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1992 · pks1, htru_pks, misc, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 11h 33m 51.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −62° 50′ 50″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 27° N. South of latitude 27° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in March, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 24 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 431 million years.