Pulsar
PSR J0636+5128
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 349 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 1.60 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 | 2.869 ms (349 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 3.4×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 13.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.0×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.8×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 11.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 714 pc (2.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.008 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.60 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000017 |
| Discovery | 2014 · gbncc, FermiAssoc, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 6h 36m 04.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +51° 28′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 39° S. North of latitude 39° 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 304 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 41 million years.