Pulsar
PSR B1916+14 (J1918+1444)
Young pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.18 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 | Aquila |
| Period | 1.181 s |
| Period derivative | 2.1×10⁻¹³ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 88 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 1.6×10¹³ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.1×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 27.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,305 pc (4.3 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1974 · ar1, ar3, jb2, misc, palfa, pksmb, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 18m 23.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +14° 45′ 06″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 75° S. North of latitude 75° 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 4,256 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 76 million years.