Pulsar
PSR B1232-55 (J1235-54)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.638 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 | 638.2 ms |
| Dispersion measure | 100.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,741 pc (5.7 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 12h 35m 19.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −54° 57′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 35° N. South of latitude 35° 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 5,678 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 101 million years.