Pulsar
PSR B1821-11 (J1824-1118)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.436 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 | Scutum |
| Period | 435.8 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.6×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.9 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.3×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.7×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 601.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,978 pc (19.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1986 · jb2, htru_pks, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 24m 29.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −11° 18′ 42″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 79° N. South of latitude 79° 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 19 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 346 million years.