Pulsar
PSR J1125-6014
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 380 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 8.753 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 | Centaurus |
| Period | 2.630 ms (380 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 3.7×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 11.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.0×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.1×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 52.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 988 pc (3.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.33 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 8.753 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000001 |
| Discovery | 2004 · pksmb, FermiAssoc, htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 11h 25m 55.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −60° 14′ 07″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 30° N. South of latitude 30° 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 1197 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.