Pulsar
PSR J0348+0432
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.039 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 2.46 h orbit with a helium white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Period | 39.123 ms (26 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.4×10⁻¹⁹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.6 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 3.1×10⁹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.6×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 40.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,100 pc (6.8 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.097 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 2.46 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000095 |
| Discovery | 2013 · gbt350, ar327, gbncc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 3h 48m 43.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +4° 32′ 11″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 85° S. It stands highest at midnight in November, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 6,849 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 122 million years.