Pulsar
PSR J1657-0406B
Millisecond pulsar · in the globular cluster M10(NGC6254)
A millisecond pulsar spinning 136 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 | 7.350 ms (136 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 43.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,070 pc (16.5 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the globular cluster M10(NGC6254) |
| Discovery | 2021 · fast_crafts |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 57m 09.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −4° 06′ 01″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 86° 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 17 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 293 million years.