Pulsar
PSR J1719-1438
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 173 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 2.18 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 | Serpens |
| Period | 5.790 ms (173 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 8.0×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 11.4 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.6×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 36.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 336 pc (1.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.001 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 2.18 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000800 |
| Discovery | 2011 · htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 19m 10.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −14° 38′ 01″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 75° N. South of latitude 75° 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 around the year 930. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 19 million years.