Pulsar
PSR J0554+3107
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant G179.0+2.6(?)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.465 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 | Auriga |
| Period | 465.0 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.4×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 52 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 8.2×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.6×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Distance | 2,000 pc (6.5 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G179.0+2.6(?) |
| Discovery | 2013 · FermiBlind |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 5h 54m 05.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +31° 07′ 41″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 59° S. North of latitude 59° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in December, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 6,523 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 116 million years.