Pulsar
PSR B2127+11C (J2129+1210C)
Radio pulsar · in the globular cluster M15(NGC7078)
A neutron star spinning once every 0.031 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 8.05 h orbit with a neutron star. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Pegasus |
| Period | 30.529 ms (33 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 5.0×10⁻¹⁸ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 97 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.3×10¹⁰ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 6.9×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 67.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 10,710 pc (34.9 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the globular cluster M15(NGC7078) |
| Companion | neutron star (estimated), ~1.13 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 8.05 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.6814 |
| Discovery | 1990 · misc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 30m 01.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +12° 10′ 38″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 78° S. North of latitude 78° 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 35 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 620 million years.