Pulsar
PSR J1455-3330
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 125 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 76.175 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 | 7.987 ms (125 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.4×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 5.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 4.5×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.9×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 13.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 901 pc (2.9 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.30 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 76.175 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000170 |
| Discovery | 1995 · pksmb, FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 14h 55m 48.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −33° 30′ 46″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 56° N. South of latitude 56° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in May, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 914 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 52 million years.