Pulsar
PSR J1603-7202
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 67 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 6.309 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 | Apus |
| Period | 14.842 ms (67 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.6×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 15.0 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 4.9×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.9×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 38.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,700 pc (12.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.34 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 6.309 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000009 |
| Discovery | 1996 · pks70, htru_pks, pkssw |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 03m 35.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −72° 02′ 33″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 18° N. South of latitude 18° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in May, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 12 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 214 million years.