Pulsar
PSR B2255+58 (J2257+5909)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.368 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 | Cassiopeia |
| Period | 368.2 ms |
| Period derivative | 5.8×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.0 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.5×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.5×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 151.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,000 pc (9.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1972 · jb1, gb1, gb3, gb4, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 22h 57m 57.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +59° 09′ 15″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 31° S. North of latitude 31° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in September, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 9,785 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 174 million years.