Pulsar
PSR J0633+0632
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant G205.5+0.5(?)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.297 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 | Monoceros |
| Period | 297.4 ms |
| Period derivative | 8.0×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 59 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 4.9×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.2×10³⁵ erg/s |
| Distance | 1,355 pc (4.4 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G205.5+0.5(?) |
| Discovery | 2009 · FermiBlind |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 6h 33m 44.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +6° 32′ 35″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 83° S. 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 4,419 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 78 million years.