Pulsar
PSR B1323-627 (J1327-6301)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.196 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 | 196.5 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.5×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.0 million years |
| Magnetic field | 5.6×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.0×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 294.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 6,208 pc (20.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1992 · pks1, htru_pks, misc, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 13h 27m 07.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | −63° 01′ 16″ |
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 April, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 20 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 359 million years.