Pulsar
PSR J1306-4035
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 454 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 1.097 days orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Period | 2.205 ms (454 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 35.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,700 pc (15.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~0.52 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.097 days |
| Discovery | 2018 · pks_superb |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 13h 06m 56.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −40° 35′ 23″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 49° N. South of latitude 49° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in April, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 15 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 272 million years.