Pulsar
PSR B2027+37 (J2029+3744)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.22 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 | 1.217 s |
| Period derivative | 1.2×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.6 million years |
| Magnetic field | 3.9×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.7×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 190.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,771 pc (18.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb3, ar327, gbncc, lotaas, gbt820 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 29m 23.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +37° 44′ 08″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 52° S. North of latitude 52° 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 19 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 334 million years.