Pulsar
PSR J0843+67
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 351 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 7.350 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 | Ursa Major |
| Period | 2.846 ms (351 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 20.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,579 pc (5.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.25 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 7.350 days |
| Discovery | 2021 · FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 8h 43m 22.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +67° 13′ 08″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 23° S. North of latitude 23° N 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 5,150 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 91 million years.