Pulsar
PSR J1045-0436
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 42 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 10.274 days orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Sextans |
| Period | 24.048 ms (42 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 7.9×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.8 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.4×10⁹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.2×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 4.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 329 pc (1.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~0.98 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 10.274 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000075 |
| Discovery | 2020 · gbncc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 45m 57.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | −4° 36′ 23″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 85° N. It stands highest at midnight in March, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 953. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 19 million years.