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| Distance

Cosmic distance ladder

The cosmic distance ladder is the succession of methods by which astronomers determine the distances to celestial objects. A real direct distance measurement of an astronomical object is possible only for those objects that are "close enough" to Earth...

 
| 170.000 Ly
PSR J0537-6910 is a pulsar

Pulsar

A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...

 that is 4,000 years old (plus light travel time to Earth), and 170,000 light years away, in the southern sky. It rotates at 62 Hertz

Hertz

The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....

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Astronomer John Middleditch and his team at LANL have become the first people to predict starquakes; and observe magnetic pole drift on a pulsar; using this pulsar with observational data from Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer is a satellite that observes the time structure of astronomical X-ray sources. The RXTE has three instruments—the Proportional Counter Array, the High-Energy X-ray Timing Experiment , and one instrument called the All Sky Monitor...

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External links

• Scientists Can Predict Pulsar Starquakes (SpaceDaily) Jun 07, 2006
• Astronomers predict timing of starquakes Maggie McKee (New Scientist) 15:54 6 June 2006
• SIMBAD entry for PSR J0537-6910