Pulsar
PSR B2227+61 (J2229+6205)
Radio pulsar
A neutron star spinning once every 0.443 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 | Cepheus |
| Period | 443.1 ms |
| Period derivative | 2.3×10⁻¹⁵ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.1 million years |
| Magnetic field | 1.0×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.0×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 124.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,013 pc (9.8 thousand ly) |
| Discovery | 1982 · gb1, gb3, gbncc, lotaas, misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 22h 29m 41.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +62° 05′ 36″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 28° S. North of latitude 28° 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 9,827 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.