Pulsar
PSR B2053+21 (J2055+2209)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.815 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 | 815.2 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.3×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 9.6 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.1×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 9.8×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 36.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,999 pc (9.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb3, ar327, gb4, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 55m 39.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | +22° 09′ 27″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 68° S. North of latitude 68° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in August, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 9,782 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 174 million years.