Pulsar
PSR J0657-4657
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 253 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 84.053 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 | Puppis |
| Period | 3.945 ms (253 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 7.2×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.7 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.7×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.6×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 126.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 535 pc (1.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.31 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 84.053 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000089 |
| Discovery | 2026 · meerkat_trapum |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 6h 57m 22.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −46° 57′ 53″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 43° N. South of latitude 43° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in January, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 281. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 31 million years.