Pulsars - can you say any?

[mdstuart]

I am going to a talk on Pulsars tonight at Bristol Astronomy Society..

Do you know if you can see any with an amateur scope.

I guess not as the nearest one is 280 light years away and they are very dull objects..

I know the hubble can see the pulsar at the centre of the crab nebula and it is 6500 light years away.

Yours heopfully

Mark

[reddoss]

Try 3C273 in Virgo. It is Mag 12.8 variable, so it should be visible through an 8 to 10 inch scope.

[cplee42]

Mark it was a great talk. Hope Andrew was pleased with it. I especially liked the video footage of the Crab nebula pulsing in x-ray light! Amazing what telescopes and careful observations can now show.

[perrin6]

3c273 is a Quasar

[Cath]

any

[mdstuart]

Yes it should say see any! Thanks for the reponses..

I am guessing then it is not possible to see any..even those less than 500 light years away.

The talk at BAS was amazing. I now know that pulsars glitch even though we do not quite know why!

Regards

Mark Stuart

[callump]

I'm not sure if anyone has claimed to see any pulsars visually - but the Crab Nebula pulsar is mag 16, so should be possible in a big dob (though i'm not sure if mag 16 is time integrated or the brightness of a pulse).

Anyway, electronically, a few amateurs have been able to record the pulsing of the Crab pulsar - a strobe technique and short exposures is used.

Robin Leadbeater managed to do this back in 2003 using fairly ordinary gear:

http://www.threehillsobservatory.co.uk/astro/astro_image_33.htm

With some of the more sensitive and fast capture cameras available today, it might be more easily do-able.

Callum

[mdstuart]

Callum

Thats interesting. Facinating technique using a strobe.. Thanks...The crab nebula is 6500 light years away and the pulsar is mag16..

There are pulsars 200-300 light years away so I was hoping one might be mag 14 or below....

Mark

[Cath]

You can also hear them (down converted RF) ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ioriGSOaLg