Pulsar
PSR J1045-4509
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 134 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 4.084 days 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 | 7.474 ms (134 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.8×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 6.7 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 3.7×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.7×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 58.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 340 pc (1.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.19 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 4.084 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000023 |
| Discovery | 1994 · pks70, ghrss, htru_pks, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 45m 50.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −45° 09′ 54″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 45° N. South of latitude 45° S it never sets. 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 917. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 20 million years.