Pulsar
PSR J1216-6410
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 283 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 4.037 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 | Crux |
| Period | 3.539 ms (283 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.6×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 35.1 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 7.6×10⁷ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.4×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 47.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,098 pc (3.6 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.18 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 4.037 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000006 |
| Discovery | 2004 · pksmb, htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 12h 16m 07.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −64° 10′ 09″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 26° N. South of latitude 26° 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 1556 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 64 million years.