Pulsar
PSR B1929+20 (J1932+2020)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.268 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 | 268.2 ms |
| Period derivative | 4.2×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.0 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.1×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.6×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 211.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,000 pc (16.3 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1974 · ar1, ar2, ar3, gb3, jb2, palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 32m 08.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +20° 20′ 46″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 70° S. North of latitude 70° 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 16 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 289 million years.