Pulsar
PSR J1418-6058
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant G313.3+0.1(?)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.111 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 | 110.6 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.7×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 10 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 4.4×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.9×10³⁶ erg/s |
| Distance | 1,885 pc (6.1 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G313.3+0.1(?) |
| Discovery | 2009 · FermiBlind |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 14h 18m 42.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −60° 57′ 49″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 29° N. South of latitude 29° 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 6,148 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 109 million years.