Pulsar
PSR B1924+19 (J1926+1928)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.35 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 | 1.346 s |
| Period derivative | 1.4×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 15 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.4×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.3×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 445.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 10,570 pc (34.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 26m 22.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +19° 28′ 12″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 71° S. North of latitude 71° 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 34 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 612 million years.