PSR J0540−6919
Pulsar in the constellation Dorado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PSR J0540−6919[2] (PSR B0540−69)[2] is a pulsar in the Tarantula Nebula of the Large Magellanic Cloud.[5] It is the first extragalactic gamma-ray pulsar discovered.[6] A rotation period of 50.569 milliseconds and is characteristic age of 1,670 years old.
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| Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox ICRS | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Dorado[1] |
| Right ascension | 05h 40m 10.84s[2] |
| Declination | −69° 19′ 54.2″[2] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 22.0[3] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | Pulsar |
| Astrometry | |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: 3.593 mas/yr Dec.: 4.971 mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 0.6715 mas |
| Distance | 161,000 ly (49,400[3] pc) |
| Details | |
| Rotation | 50.5697030222 ms[4] |
| Age | 1,670[3] years |
| Other designations | |
| PSR B0540−69,[2] PKS 0540−693[2] | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
History
This Crab-like pulsar was first discovered in X-rays in 1984[7] and subsequently detected at radio wavelengths.[8] Astronomers initially attributed the glow to collisions of subatomic particles accelerated in the shock waves produced by supernova explosions, and it took more than six years of observations by Fermi's Large Area Telescope to detect gamma-ray pulsations from PSR J0540−6919.[9]
In 2015, it was determined that PSR J0540−6919 is responsible for about half of the gamma-ray flux from the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud.[9] It was identified as a bright source of gamma radiation early in the Fermi mission.