Pulsar
PSR B2321-61 (J2324-6054)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 2.35 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 | Tucana |
| Period | 2.347 s |
| Period derivative | 2.6×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 14 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.5×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 7.9×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 15.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,348 pc (4.4 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1978 · mol2, misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 23h 24m 27.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −60° 54′ 06″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 29° N. South of latitude 29° S 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 4,397 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 78 million years.