Pulsar
Vela Pulsar (PSR B0833-45)
The brightest gamma-ray source in the sky; the "glitching" pulsar
The 11,000-year-old pulsar at the centre of the Vela Supernova Remnant. It is the brightest persistent gamma-ray source in the sky and regularly "glitches": its spin suddenly speeds up — the most direct evidence for the superfluid interior of neutron stars. Its discovery (1968) proved that pulsars are born in supernovae.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Vela |
| Period | 89.3 ms |
| Characteristic age | 11,300 years |
| Magnetic field | 3,4 × 10¹² G |
| Distance | 287 pc (936 light-years) |
| Glitch frequency | about once every 3 years |
| Discovery | 1968, Large, Vaughan & Mills (Molonglo) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 8h 35m 20.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | −45° 10′ 34″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 45° N. South of latitude 45° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in January, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 1090. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 17 million years.