Pulsar
PSR J1741+1351
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 267 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 16.335 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 | 3.747 ms (267 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 3.0×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.0 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 3.4×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.3×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 24.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,667 pc (5.4 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.28 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 16.335 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000010 |
| Discovery | 2007 · pkssw, FermiBlind, ar327, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 41m 31.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +13° 51′ 44″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 76° S. North of latitude 76° N 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 5,437 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 96 million years.