Pulsar
PSR B2351+61 (J2354+6155)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.945 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 | 944.8 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.6×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 920 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 4.0×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 7.6×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 94.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,400 pc (7.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1982 · gb1, gb2, gb3, gb4, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 23h 54m 04.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +61° 55′ 47″ |
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 7,828 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 139 million years.