Pulsar
PSR J1653-0158
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 508 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. Its radio beams do not sweep across Earth; its pulses are seen only in X-rays or gamma rays. It shares a 1.25 h orbit with a very-low-mass companion. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Ophiuchus |
| Period | 1.968 ms (508 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.4×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 13.0 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 7.0×10⁷ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.2×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Distance | 840 pc (2.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.011 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.25 h |
| Discovery | 2020 · FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 53m 38.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −1° 58′ 37″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 88° N. It stands highest at midnight in June, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 715 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 49 million years.