Pulsar
PSR J0821-4300
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant PUPPIS A
A neutron star spinning once every 0.113 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 | Puppis |
| Period | 112.8 ms |
| Period derivative | 9.3×10⁻¹⁸ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 192 million years |
| Magnetic field | 3.3×10¹⁰ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.6×10³² erg/s |
| Distance | 2,200 pc (7.2 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant PUPPIS A |
| Discovery | 2009 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 8h 21m 57.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | −43° 00′ 17″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 47° N. South of latitude 47° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in January, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 7,176 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 127 million years.