Pulsar
PSR J0416+5201_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 55 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 9.52 h orbit with a neutron star. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Perseus |
| Period | 18.250 ms (55 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 140.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,839 pc (9.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | neutron star (estimated), ~1.57 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 9.52 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000046 |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 4h 16m 27.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +52° 01′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 38° S. North of latitude 38° 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 9,260 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 164 million years.