Pulsar
PSR B1607-13 (J1610-1322)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.02 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 | Scorpius |
| Period | 1.018 s |
| Period derivative | 2.3×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 70 million years |
| Magnetic field | 4.9×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.6×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 49.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,244 pc (10.6 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 10m 42.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −13° 22′ 22″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 77° N. South of latitude 77° 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 11 thousand 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 188 million years.