Pulsar
PSR J0605+3757
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 367 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 55.672 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 | Auriga |
| Period | 2.728 ms (367 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 4.7×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 9.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 9.2×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 20.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 215 pc (701.2 ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.21 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 55.672 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000374 |
| Discovery | 2016 · FermiAssoc, ar327, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 6h 05m 05.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +37° 57′ 36″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 52° S. North of latitude 52° 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 around the year 1325. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 12 million years.