Pulsar
PSR J1016-5857
Young pulsar · in the remnant G284.3-1.8(?)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.107 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Carina |
| Period | 107.4 ms |
| Period derivative | 8.1×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 21 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 3.0×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.6×10³⁶ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 393.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,161 pc (10.3 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G284.3-1.8(?) |
| Discovery | 2001 · pksmb, FermiBlind, htru_pks, misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 16m 21.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −58° 57′ 12″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 31° N. South of latitude 31° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in February, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 10 thousand 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 183 million years.