Pulsar
PSR J1516-43
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.036 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 228 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 | Lupus |
| Period | 36.022 ms (28 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 70.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,037 pc (9.9 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~0.47 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 228 days |
| Discovery | 2019 · ghrss |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 15h 16m 32.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −43° 19′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 47° N. South of latitude 47° 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 9,905 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 176 million years.