Pulsar
PSR B1325-49 (J1328-4921)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.48 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 | 1.479 s |
| Period derivative | 6.1×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 38 million years |
| Magnetic field | 9.6×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 7.4×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 118.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 8,396 pc (27.4 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, htru_pks, pks70, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 13h 28m 33.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | −49° 21′ 33″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 41° N. South of latitude 41° 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 27 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 486 million years.