Pulsar
PSR B1310+18 (J1312+1810A)
Radio pulsar · in the globular cluster M53(NGC5024)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.033 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 256 days orbit with a helium white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Coma Berenices |
| Period | 33.163 ms (30 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 24.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 18,050 pc (58.9 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the globular cluster M53(NGC5024) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.35 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 256 days |
| Discovery | 1991 · misc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 13h 12m 55.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +18° 10′ 05″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 72° S. North of latitude 72° N 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 59 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 1.0 billion years.