Pulsar
PSR B1814-23 (J1817-2311)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.625 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 | Sagittarius |
| Period | 625.5 ms |
| Dispersion measure | 240.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 7,933 pc (25.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1983 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 17m 00.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −23° 10′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 67° N. South of latitude 67° 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 26 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 459 million years.