Pulsar
PSR B1530-539 (J1534-5405)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.290 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 | Norma |
| Period | 289.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.6×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.0 million years |
| Magnetic field | 6.8×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.5×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 190.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,745 pc (12.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1992 · pks1, htru_pks, misc, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 15h 34m 33.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | −54° 05′ 38″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 36° N. South of latitude 36° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in May, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 12 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 217 million years.