Pulsar
PSR B1828-60 (J1833-6023)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.89 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 | Pavo |
| Period | 1.889 s |
| Period derivative | 2.7×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 111 million years |
| Magnetic field | 7.2×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.6×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 35.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,336 pc (4.4 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, pks70, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 33m 14.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −60° 23′ 04″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 30° N. South of latitude 30° 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 4,357 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 77 million years.