Pulsar
PSR B2111+46 (J2113+4644)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.01 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 | 1.015 s |
| Period derivative | 7.1×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 23 million years |
| Magnetic field | 8.6×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.7×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 141.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,200 pc (7.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1970 · jb1, gb1, gb3, gb4, gbncc, lotaas, fast_gpps, gbt820 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 13m 24.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | +46° 44′ 09″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 43° S. North of latitude 43° 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 7,176 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 127 million years.