Pulsar
PSR J1647-0156A
Millisecond pulsar · in the globular cluster M12(NGC6218)
A millisecond pulsar spinning 424 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Ophiuchus |
| Period | 2.360 ms (424 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 42.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,668 pc (8.7 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the globular cluster M12(NGC6218) |
| Discovery | 2025 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 47m 00.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −1° 55′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 88° 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 8,702 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 154 million years.