Pulsar
PSR J1653-2054
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 242 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 1.227 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 | Ophiuchus |
| Period | 4.129 ms (242 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.1×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 5.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 6.3×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 56.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,631 pc (8.6 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.091 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.227 days |
| Discovery | 2015 · htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 53m 31.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −20° 54′ 55″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 69° N. South of latitude 69° S it never sets. 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 8,581 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 152 million years.