Pulsar
PSR B1921+17 (J1923+1706)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.547 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 | 547.2 ms |
| Period derivative | 4.3×10⁻¹⁷ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 202 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.6×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.0×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 141.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,956 pc (12.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1, ar3, ar4, misc, palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 23m 07.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +17° 06′ 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 13 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 229 million years.