Pulsar
PSR J1748-3009
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 103 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 2.934 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 | Scorpius |
| Period | 9.684 ms (103 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 420.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,054 pc (16.5 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.098 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 2.934 days |
| Discovery | 2013 · pksmb, htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 48m 23.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −30° 09′ 11″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 60° N. South of latitude 60° 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 16 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 292 million years.