Pulsar
PSR J1708-4008
Magnetar
A magnetar with a 4.7×10¹⁴ 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 | Scorpius |
| Period | 11.006 s |
| Period derivative | 2.0×10⁻¹¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8,900 years |
| Magnetic field | 4.7×10¹⁴ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.8×10³² erg/s |
| Distance | 3,800 pc (12.4 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1997 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 08m 46.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | −40° 08′ 52″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 50° N. South of latitude 50° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in June, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 12 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 220 million years.