Pulsar
PSR B2021+51 (J2022+5154)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.529 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 | Cygnus |
| Period | 529.2 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.1×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.7 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.3×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.2×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 22.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,800 pc (5.9 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1970 · jb1, gb1, gb2, gb3, gb4, lotaas, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 22m 49.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +51° 54′ 50″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 38° S. North of latitude 38° 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 5,871 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 104 million years.