Pulsar
PSR B1920+20 (J1922+2018)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.17 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 | 1.173 s |
| Period derivative | 6.5×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 29 million years |
| Magnetic field | 8.8×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.6×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 203.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,277 pc (17.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1, ar3, gbncc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 22m 08.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +20° 17′ 57″ |
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 17 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 305 million years.