The Very Young Radio Pulsar J1357–6429

We report the discovery of a radio pulsar with a characteristic age of 7300 yr, making it one of the 10 apparently youngest Galactic pulsars known. PSR J1357-6429, with a spin period of P = 166 ms and spin-down luminosity of 3.1 × 1036 ergs s-1, was detected during the Parkes multibeam survey of the Galactic plane. We have measured a large rotational glitch in this pulsar, with ΔP/P = -2.4 × 10-6, similar in magnitude to those experienced occasionally by the Vela pulsar. At a nominal distance of only ~2.5 kpc, based on the measured free electron column density of 127 cm-3 pc and the electron distribution model of Cordes & Lazio, this may be, after the Crab, the nearest very young pulsar known. The pulsar is located near the radio supernova remnant candidate G309.8-2.6.