Pulsar
PSR J2301+5852
Magnetar · in the remnant CTB109
A magnetar with a 5.8×10¹³ 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 | Cassiopeia |
| Period | 6.979 s |
| Period derivative | 4.7×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 235 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 5.8×10¹³ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.5×10³¹ erg/s |
| Distance | 3,300 pc (10.8 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant CTB109 |
| Discovery | 1981 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 23h 01m 08.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | +58° 52′ 44″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 31° S. North of latitude 31° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in September, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 11 thousand 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 191 million years.