Pulsar
PSR B1730-22 (J1733-2228)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.872 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 | Ophiuchus |
| Period | 871.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 4.3×10⁻¹⁷ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 323 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.0×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.5×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 41.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,105 pc (3.6 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1973 · jb1, htru_pks, mol2, pks70, pksmb, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 33m 26.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | −22° 28′ 37″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 68° N. South of latitude 68° 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 around 1579 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 64 million years.