Pulsar
PSR B1309-12 (J1311-1228)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.448 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 | Virgo |
| Period | 447.5 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.5×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 47 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.6×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 6.6×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 36.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 25,000 pc (81.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, misc, pks70 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 13h 11m 52.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −12° 28′ 02″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 78° N. South of latitude 78° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in April, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 82 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 1.4 billion years.