Pulsar
PSR J1622-4950
Magnetar · in the remnant G333.9+0.0(?)
A magnetar with a 1.1×10¹⁴ 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 | 4.327 s |
| Period derivative | 2.8×10⁻¹² s/s |
| Characteristic age | 25 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 1.1×10¹⁴ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.4×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 820.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,571 pc (18.2 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G333.9+0.0(?) |
| Discovery | 2010 · htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 22m 44.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −49° 50′ 54″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 40° N. South of latitude 40° 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 18 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 322 million years.