Pulsar
PSR B1630-44 (J1633-4453)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.437 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 | 436.5 ms |
| Period derivative | 6.2×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.1 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.7×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.9×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 472.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 14,810 pc (48.3 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1992 · pks1, htru_pks, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 33m 47.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −44° 53′ 08″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 45° N. South of latitude 45° 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 48 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 857 million years.