Pulsar
PSR J1101-6101
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant G290.1-0.8(MSH 11-61A)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.063 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 | Carina |
| Period | 62.800 ms (16 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 8.6×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 116 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 7.4×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.4×10³⁶ erg/s |
| Distance | 7,000 pc (22.8 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G290.1-0.8(MSH 11-61A) |
| Discovery | 2014 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 11h 01m 45.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −61° 01′ 40″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 29° N. South of latitude 29° 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 23 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 405 million years.