Pulsar
PSR B1822-14 (J1825-1446)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.279 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 | 279.2 ms |
| Period derivative | 2.3×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 195 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 2.6×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.1×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 352.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,441 pc (14.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1986 · jb2, htru_pks, misc, pks1, pksmb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 25m 03.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −14° 46′ 54″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 75° N. South of latitude 75° 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 14 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 257 million years.