Pulsar
PSR J0838-2827
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 277 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 5.15 h 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 | Pyxis |
| Period | 3.615 ms (277 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.0×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 5.5 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.0×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.7×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 80.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 413 pc (1.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.19 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 5.15 h |
| Discovery | 2024 · meerkat_trapum |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 8h 38m 50.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | −28° 27′ 57″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 62° N. South of latitude 62° 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 679. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 24 million years.