Pulsar
PSR J1714-3810
Magnetar · in the remnant G348.7+0.3(CTB37B)
A magnetar with a 4.8×10¹⁴ 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 | 3.825 s |
| Period derivative | 5.9×10⁻¹¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1,030 years |
| Magnetic field | 4.8×10¹⁴ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.1×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Distance | 13,200 pc (43.1 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G348.7+0.3(CTB37B) |
| Discovery | 2010 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 14m 05.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −38° 10′ 31″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 52° N. South of latitude 52° 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 43 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 764 million years.