Pulsar
PSR J1632-4818
Young pulsar · in the remnant G336.1-0.2(?)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.814 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Norma |
| Period | 813.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 6.5×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 20 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 2.3×10¹³ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.8×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 758.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,308 pc (17.3 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G336.1-0.2(?) |
| Discovery | 2001 · pksmb, htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 32m 39.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −48° 18′ 54″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 42° N. South of latitude 42° 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 17 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 307 million years.