Pulsar
PSR J1811-1925
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant G11.2-0.3
A neutron star spinning once every 0.065 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. Its radio beams do not sweep across Earth; its pulses are seen only in X-rays or gamma rays. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Period | 64.667 ms (15 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 4.4×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 23 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 1.7×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 6.4×10³⁶ erg/s |
| Distance | 5,000 pc (16.3 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G11.2-0.3 |
| Discovery | 1997 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 11m 29.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −19° 25′ 28″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 71° N. South of latitude 71° 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 16 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 289 million years.