Pulsar
PSR B1913+167 (J1915+1647)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.62 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 | 1.616 s |
| Period derivative | 4.1×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 63 million years |
| Magnetic field | 8.2×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.8×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 62.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,194 pc (7.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1, ar2, ar3, ar4, lotaas, palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 15m 19.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | +16° 47′ 09″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 73° S. North of latitude 73° 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 7,156 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 127 million years.