Pulsar
PSR B1919+20 (J1921+2003)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.761 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 | 760.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 5.0×10⁻¹⁷ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 241 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.0×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.5×10³⁰ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 101.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,233 pc (10.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 21m 51.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +20° 03′ 21″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 70° S. North of latitude 70° 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 187 million years.