Pulsar
PSR B2122+13 (J2124+1407)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.694 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 | Pegasus |
| Period | 694.1 ms |
| Period derivative | 7.7×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 14 million years |
| Magnetic field | 7.4×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 9.1×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 30.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,807 pc (9.2 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, lotaas, misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 24m 46.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +14° 07′ 19″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 76° S. North of latitude 76° 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 9,155 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 162 million years.