Pulsar
PSR B2020+28 (J2022+2854)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.343 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 | 343.4 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.9×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.9 million years |
| Magnetic field | 8.2×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.8×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 24.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,100 pc (6.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1973 · misc, ar327, gb1, gb3, gb4, jb1, lotaas, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 22m 37.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | +28° 54′ 23″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 61° S. North of latitude 61° 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 6,849 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 122 million years.