Pulsar
PSR B1257+12 (Lich)
The star of the first exoplanets ever discovered (1992)
The millisecond pulsar Aleksander Wolszczan found with Arecibo in 1990; microsecond irregularities in its pulses revealed the first planets outside the Solar System in 1992. Its three planets (Draugr, Poltergeist, Phobetor) probably formed in a disc left over from the supernova; dead worlds constantly bathed in the pulsar's radiation.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Period | 6.219 ms (161 Hz) |
| Characteristic age | ~3 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 8,8 × 10⁸ G |
| Distance | ~600 pc (~2,000 light-years) |
| Planets | Draugr, Poltergeist, Phobetor |
| Discovery | 1990, Wolszczan & Frail (Arecibo) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 13h 00m 03.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | +12° 40′ 55″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 77° S. North of latitude 77° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in April, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 69. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 35 million years.