Pulsar
PSR B2210+29 (J2212+2933)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 1.00 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 | 1.005 s |
| Period derivative | 5.0×10⁻¹⁶ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 32 million years |
| Magnetic field | 7.1×10¹¹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.9×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 74.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 25,000 pc (81.5 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1985 · gb2, ar327, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 22h 12m 23.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +29° 33′ 05″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 60° S. North of latitude 60° 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 82 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 1.4 billion years.