Pulsar
PSR J1841-0456
Magnetar · in the remnant Kes73
A magnetar with a 7.0×10¹⁴ 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 | Scutum |
| Period | 11.789 s |
| Period derivative | 4.1×10⁻¹¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4,570 years |
| Magnetic field | 7.0×10¹⁴ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 9.9×10³² erg/s |
| Distance | 9,600 pc (31.3 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant Kes73 |
| Discovery | 1997 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 41m 19.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −4° 56′ 11″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 85° N. 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 31 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 555 million years.