Pulsar
PSR J0737-3039A
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 44 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 2.45 h orbit with a neutron star. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Puppis |
| Period | 22.699 ms (44 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.8×10⁻¹⁸ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 204 million years |
| Magnetic field | 6.4×10⁹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.9×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 48.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,100 pc (3.6 thousand ly) |
| Companion | neutron star (estimated), ~1.56 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 2.45 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.0878 |
| Discovery | 2003 · pkshl, gbncc, htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 7h 37m 51.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −30° 39′ 41″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 59° N. South of latitude 59° 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 1563 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 64 million years.