Pulsar
PSR J1210-5226
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant G296.5+10.0
A neutron star spinning once every 0.424 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 | Centaurus |
| Period | 424.1 ms |
| Period derivative | 2.2×10⁻¹⁷ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 302 million years |
| Magnetic field | 9.8×10¹⁰ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.2×10³¹ erg/s |
| Distance | 2,600 pc (8.5 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G296.5+10.0 |
| Discovery | 2000 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 12h 10m 00.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | −52° 26′ 28″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 38° N. South of latitude 38° 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 8,480 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 150 million years.