Pulsar
PSR J0007+7303
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant CTA1
A neutron star spinning once every 0.316 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. Its radio beams do not sweep across Earth; its pulses are seen only in X-rays or gamma rays. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cepheus |
| Period | 315.9 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.6×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 14 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 1.1×10¹³ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.5×10³⁵ erg/s |
| Distance | 1,400 pc (4.6 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant CTA1 |
| Discovery | 2009 · FermiBlind |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 0h 07m 01.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +73° 03′ 08″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 17° S. North of latitude 17° 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 4,566 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 81 million years.