Pulsar
PSR B1933+15 (J1936+1536)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.967 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 | 967.3 ms |
| Period derivative | 4.0×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.8 million years |
| Magnetic field | 2.0×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.8×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 165.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,065 pc (16.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1974 · ar1, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 36m 01.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +15° 36′ 36″ |
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 17 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 293 million years.