Pulsar
PSR J0408+4955_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 87 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 2.991 days orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Perseus |
| Period | 11.440 ms (87 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 73.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,723 pc (5.6 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~1.00 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 2.991 days |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 4h 08m 07.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +49° 55′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 40° S. North of latitude 40° 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 5,620 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 100 million years.