Pulsar
PSR J0622+0339_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 114 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 9.546 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 | Monoceros |
| Period | 8.772 ms (114 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 3.5×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.0 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 5.6×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.0×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 79.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,786 pc (5.8 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.17 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 9.546 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000011 |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 6h 22m 19.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +3° 39′ 43″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 86° S. 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 5,825 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 103 million years.