Pulsar
PSR J1405-4656
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 132 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 8.956 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 | 7.602 ms (132 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.8×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.3 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 4.7×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.5×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 13.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 669 pc (2.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.25 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 8.956 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000006 |
| Discovery | 2015 · htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 14h 05m 21.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | −46° 56′ 02″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 43° N. South of latitude 43° 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 around 157 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 39 million years.