Pulsar
PSR J1124-3653
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 415 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 5.45 h orbit with a very-low-mass companion. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Period | 2.410 ms (415 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 6.0×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 6.4 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.7×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 44.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 987 pc (3.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.031 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 5.45 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000058 |
| Discovery | 2011 · FermiAssoc, gbt350 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 11h 24m 01.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −36° 53′ 19″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 53° N. South of latitude 53° 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 1194 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 57 million years.