Pulsar
PSR B2319+60 (J2321+6024)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 2.26 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 | 2.256 s |
| Period derivative | 7.0×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 5.1 million years |
| Magnetic field | 4.0×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.4×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 94.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,700 pc (8.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1970 · jb1, gb1, gb3, gb4, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 23h 21m 55.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +60° 24′ 31″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 30° S. North of latitude 30° 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 8,806 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 156 million years.