Pulsar
PSR J1826-1256
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant G18.5-0.4(?)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.110 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 | Scutum |
| Period | 110.2 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.2×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 14 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 3.7×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.6×10³⁶ erg/s |
| Distance | 1,550 pc (5.1 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G18.5-0.4(?) |
| Discovery | 2009 · FermiBlind |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 26m 08.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | −12° 56′ 33″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 77° N. South of latitude 77° 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 5,055 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 90 million years.