Pulsar
PSR J1622-0315
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 260 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 3.88 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 | Ophiuchus |
| Period | 3.845 ms (260 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.1×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 5.3 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.1×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 7.9×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 21.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,142 pc (3.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.11 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 3.88 h |
| Discovery | 2016 · FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 22m 59.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | −3° 15′ 37″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 87° N. 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 around 1700 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 66 million years.