Pulsar
PSR J1023+0038
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 592 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 4.75 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 | Sextans |
| Period | 1.688 ms (592 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 6.9×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.1×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.7×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 14.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,190 pc (3.9 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.16 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 4.75 h |
| Discovery | 2009 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 23m 47.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +0° 38′ 41″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 89° S. 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 1856 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 69 million years.