Pulsar
PSR J1550-5418
Magnetar · in the remnant G327.24-0.13
A magnetar with a 2.2×10¹⁴ gauss magnetic field: it spins slowly, but its magnetic energy escapes in X-ray and gamma-ray bursts. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Norma |
| Period | 2.070 s |
| Period derivative | 2.3×10⁻¹¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1,410 years |
| Magnetic field | 2.2×10¹⁴ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.0×10³⁵ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 697.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,000 pc (13.0 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G327.24-0.13 |
| Discovery | 2007 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 15h 50m 54.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −54° 18′ 24″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 36° N. South of latitude 36° 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 13 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 231 million years.