Pulsar
PSR B2123-67 (J2127-6648)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.326 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 | 325.8 ms |
| Period derivative | 2.3×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 23 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.7×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.6×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 35.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 25,000 pc (81.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, misc, pks70 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 27m 31.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −66° 48′ 28″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 23° N. South of latitude 23° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in August, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 82 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 1.4 billion years.