Pulsar
PSR J0337+1715
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 366 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 1.629 days orbit with a helium white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Period | 2.733 ms (366 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.8×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.5 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.4×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 21.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,300 pc (4.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.14 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.629 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000692 |
| Discovery | 2014 · gbt350, ar327, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 3h 37m 43.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +17° 15′ 15″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 73° S. North of latitude 73° N it never sets. 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 4,240 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 75 million years.