Pulsar
PSR J1630+3734
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 301 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 12.525 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 | Hercules |
| Period | 3.318 ms (301 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.1×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.9×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.2×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 14.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,182 pc (3.9 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.27 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 12.525 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000051 |
| Discovery | 2016 · FermiAssoc, ar327, gbncc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 30m 36.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +37° 34′ 42″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 52° S. North of latitude 52° N 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 around 1830 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 68 million years.