Pulsar
PSR B1922+20 (J1924+2040)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.238 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 | 237.8 ms |
| Period derivative | 2.1×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.8 million years |
| Magnetic field | 7.1×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 6.1×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 226.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,952 pc (19.4 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 24m 40.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +20° 40′ 03″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 69° S. North of latitude 69° 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 19 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 344 million years.