Pulsar
PSR B1643-43 (J1646-4346)
Young pulsar · in the remnant G341.2+0.9(?)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.232 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 | 231.6 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.1×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 33 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 5.2×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.6×10³⁵ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 490.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 6,224 pc (20.3 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G341.2+0.9(?) |
| Discovery | 1992 · pks1, htru_pks, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 46m 51.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −43° 46′ 38″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 46° N. South of latitude 46° 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 20 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 360 million years.