Pulsar
PSR J1036-4353
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 595 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 6.23 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 | Vela |
| Period | 1.680 ms (595 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 6.4×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.1×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.3×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 61.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 408 pc (1.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.27 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 6.23 h |
| Discovery | 2023 · meerkat_trapum |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 36m 30.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −43° 53′ 09″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 46° N. South of latitude 46° 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 around the year 695. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 24 million years.