Pulsar
PSR B1925+188 (J1927+1856)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.298 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 | 298.3 ms |
| Period derivative | 2.2×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.1 million years |
| Magnetic field | 8.3×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.3×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 97.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,079 pc (10.0 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1, ar3, ar327, misc, palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 27m 25.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +18° 56′ 37″ |
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 10 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 178 million years.