Pulsar
PSR B2334+61 (J2337+6151)
Young pulsar · in the remnant G114.3+0.3
A neutron star spinning once every 0.495 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 | 495.4 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.9×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 41 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 9.9×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 6.3×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 58.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 700 pc (2.3 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G114.3+0.3 |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, gb3, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 23h 37m 05.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +61° 51′ 01″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 28° S. North of latitude 28° 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 around 258 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 41 million years.