Pulsar
PSR B1930+13 (J1933+1304)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.928 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 | 928.3 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.2×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 46 million years |
| Magnetic field | 5.5×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.6×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 176.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 6,072 pc (19.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1975 · ar1, ar3, misc, pksmb, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 33m 22.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +13° 04′ 50″ |
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 20 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 351 million years.