Pulsar
PSR B2036+53 (J2038+5319)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.42 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 | 1.425 s |
| Period derivative | 9.4×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 24 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.2×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.3×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 160.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 8,135 pc (26.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, gbncc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 38m 03.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +53° 19′ 13″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 37° S. North of latitude 37° 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 27 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 471 million years.