Pulsar
PSR B1713-40 (J1717-4054)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.888 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 | 887.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.7×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.8 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.8×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.1×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 306.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 7,287 pc (23.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1992 · pks1, htru_pks, pks70, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 17m 52.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | −41° 03′ 18″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 49° N. South of latitude 49° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in June, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 24 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 422 million years.