Pulsar
PSR B1359-51 (J1402-5021)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.38 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 | 1.380 s |
| Period derivative | 5.4×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.0 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.8×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.1×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 51.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,285 pc (4.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1970 · mol1, mol2, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 14h 02m 56.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −50° 21′ 43″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 40° N. South of latitude 40° 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 4,191 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 74 million years.