Pulsar
PSR J1745+1017
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 377 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 17.53 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 | Ophiuchus |
| Period | 2.652 ms (377 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.7×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 15.4 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 8.6×10⁷ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.8×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 24.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,214 pc (4.0 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.016 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 17.53 h |
| Discovery | 2013 · FermiAssoc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 45m 33.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +10° 17′ 52″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 80° S. North of latitude 80° 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 around 1935 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 70 million years.