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Pulsar

PSR B1749-28 (J1752-2806)

Radio pulsar

A neutron star spinning once every 0.563 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.

TypePulsar
ConstellationSagittarius
Period562.6 ms
Period derivative8.1×10⁻¹⁵ s/s
Characteristic age1.1 million years
Magnetic field2.2×10¹² G
Spin-down luminosity1.8×10³³ erg/s
Dispersion measure50.3 pc/cm³
Distance200 pc (652.3 ly)
Discovery1968 · mol1, htru_pks, jb1, jb2, misc, mol2, pks1, pks70, pksmb
SourceATNF Pulsar Catalogue
Right ascension (J2000)17h 52m 58.7s
Declination (J2000)−28° 06′ 37″

In the sky

Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 62° N. South of latitude 62° 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 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.

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