Pulsar
PSR B1851-14 (J1854-1421)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.15 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 | 1.147 s |
| Period derivative | 4.2×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.4 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.2×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.1×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 130.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 6,917 pc (22.6 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, htru_pks, pks70, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 54m 44.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −14° 21′ 26″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 76° N. South of latitude 76° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 23 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 400 million years.