Pulsar
PSR J1231-1411
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 271 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 1.860 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 | Corvus |
| Period | 3.684 ms (271 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.3×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.6 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.9×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.8×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 8.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 588 pc (1.9 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.22 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.860 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000002 |
| Discovery | 2011 · FermiAssoc, gbncc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 12h 31m 11.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −14° 11′ 43″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 76° N. South of latitude 76° 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 the year 108. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 34 million years.