Pulsar
PSR B1530+27 (J1532+2745)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.12 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 | Corona Borealis |
| Period | 1.125 s |
| Period derivative | 7.8×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 23 million years |
| Magnetic field | 9.5×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.2×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 14.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,490 pc (4.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · gb1, ar327, ar4, gb4, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 15h 32m 10.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +27° 45′ 50″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 62° S. North of latitude 62° N 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 4,860 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 86 million years.