Pulsar
PSR J1850-0006
Radio pulsar · in the remnant G32.45+0.1(?)
A neutron star spinning once every 2.19 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Aquila |
| Period | 2.191 s |
| Period derivative | 4.3×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.0 million years |
| Magnetic field | 3.1×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.6×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 655.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,831 pc (19.0 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G32.45+0.1(?) |
| Discovery | 2009 · pksmb, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 50m 47.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | −0° 06′ 26″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 90° N. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 19 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 337 million years.