Pulsar
PSR J1745-0952
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 52 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 4.943 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 | 19.376 ms (52 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 9.2×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.3 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.4×10⁹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.0×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 64.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 226 pc (737.1 ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.13 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 4.943 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000010 |
| Discovery | 2001 · pkssw, htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 45m 09.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −9° 52′ 40″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 80° 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 around the year 1289. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 13 million years.