Pulsar
PSR B2045+56 (J2046+5708)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.477 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 | Cepheus |
| Period | 476.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.1×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 679 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 2.3×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.1×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 101.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,339 pc (14.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 46m 46.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +57° 08′ 37″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 33° S. North of latitude 33° N 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 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 251 million years.