Pulsar
PSR J0312-0921
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 270 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 2.34 h orbit with a very-low-mass companion. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Eridanus |
| Period | 3.704 ms (270 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.0×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.0 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.7×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.5×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 20.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 817 pc (2.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.010 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 2.34 h |
| Discovery | 2021 · misc, FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 3h 12m 06.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −9° 21′ 56″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 81° N. It stands highest at midnight in November, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 640 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 47 million years.