Pulsar
PSR B1931+24 (J1933+2421)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.814 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 | 813.7 ms |
| Period derivative | 8.1×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.6 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.6×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.9×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 106.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,639 pc (15.1 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb3, ar3, gb4, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 33m 37.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +24° 36′ 40″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 65° S. North of latitude 65° 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 15 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 268 million years.