Pulsar
PSR J1748-2446ad
The fastest-spinning pulsar known: 716 turns a second
A millisecond pulsar discovered in the globular cluster Terzan 5 in 2004. It spins 716 times a second; its equator moves at nearly a quarter of the speed of light — very close to the limit neutron-star matter can withstand. It is in a 26-hour eclipsing orbit with a bloated companion star.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Period | 1.396 ms (716 Hz) |
| Equatorial speed | ~0,24 c |
| Companion | ~0.14 M☉, 1.09-day orbit |
| Cluster | Terzan 5 |
| Distance | ~5,900 pc (~19,000 light-years) |
| Discovery | 2004, Hessels et al. (GBT) |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 48m 04.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −24° 46′ 05″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 65° N. South of latitude 65° 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 19 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 341 million years.