Pulsar
PSR J1737-0314E
Millisecond pulsar · in the globular cluster M14(NGC6402)
A millisecond pulsar spinning 439 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 20.74 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 | 2.280 ms (439 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 80.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 9,100 pc (29.7 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the globular cluster M14(NGC6402) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.25 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 20.74 h |
| Discovery | 2021 · fast_crafts |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 37m 36.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −3° 14′ 45″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 87° 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 30 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 527 million years.