Pulsar
PSR B2324+60 (J2326+6113)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.234 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 | 233.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.5×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 11 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.9×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.1×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 122.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,733 pc (8.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1973 · jb1, gb1, gb2, gb3, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 23h 26m 58.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +61° 13′ 36″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 29° S. North of latitude 29° 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 8,914 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 158 million years.