Pulsar
PSR J1647-0156B
Millisecond pulsar · in the globular cluster M12(NGC6218)
A millisecond pulsar spinning 362 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 12.00 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 | 2.760 ms (362 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 42.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,696 pc (8.8 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the globular cluster M12(NGC6218) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.25 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 12.00 h |
| 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 8,793 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 156 million years.