Pulsar
PSR B1910+20 (J1912+2104)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 2.23 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Sagitta |
| Period | 2.233 s |
| Period derivative | 1.0×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.5 million years |
| Magnetic field | 4.8×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.6×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 88.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,366 pc (11.0 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1973 · jb1, ar3, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 12m 43.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | +21° 04′ 34″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 69° S. North of latitude 69° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 11 thousand years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 195 million years.