Pulsar
PSR B1927+13 (J1930+1316)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.760 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 | Aquila |
| Period | 760.0 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.7×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.3 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.7×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.3×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 207.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 6,435 pc (21.0 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1, pksmb, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 30m 00.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +13° 16′ 11″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 77° S. North of latitude 77° 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 21 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 372 million years.