Pulsar
PSR J1022+1001
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 61 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 7.805 days orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Leo |
| Period | 16.453 ms (61 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 4.3×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 6.0 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 8.5×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.8×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 10.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 725 pc (2.4 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~0.85 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 7.805 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000097 |
| Discovery | 1996 · ar4, gb4, lotaas, pkshl |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 22m 58.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +10° 01′ 53″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 80° S. North of latitude 80° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in February, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 340 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 42 million years.