Pulsar
PSR B1740-03 (J1743-0339)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.445 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 | 444.6 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.6×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.5 million years |
| Magnetic field | 8.4×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 7.0×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 30.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 200 pc (652.3 ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, misc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 43m 08.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −3° 39′ 12″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 86° N. 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 the year 1374. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 12 million years.