Pulsar
PSR B1929+15 (J1931+1536)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.314 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 | 314.4 ms |
| Period derivative | 5.0×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 994 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 1.3×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 6.4×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 138.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,970 pc (12.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1974 · ar1, misc, palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 31m 55.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +15° 36′ 58″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 74° S. North of latitude 74° 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 230 million years.