Pulsar
PSR B1918+26 (J1920+2650)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.786 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 | Vulpecula |
| Period | 785.5 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.4×10⁻¹⁷ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 362 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.7×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.8×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 27.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,722 pc (5.6 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, ar4, gb4, lotaas, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 20m 38.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +26° 50′ 38″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 63° S. North of latitude 63° 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 5,616 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 100 million years.