Pulsar
PSR J0541+2959_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 312 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 9.01 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 | Auriga |
| Period | 3.210 ms (312 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 67.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,468 pc (4.8 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.066 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 9.01 h |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 5h 41m 44.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +29° 58′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 60° S. North of latitude 60° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in December, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 4,788 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 85 million years.