Pulsar
PSR J1750-2536
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.035 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 17.142 days orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Period | 34.749 ms (29 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 179.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,227 pc (10.5 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~0.55 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 17.142 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000392 |
| Discovery | 2013 · pksmb, htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 17h 50m 33.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | −25° 36′ 43″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 64° N. South of latitude 64° 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 11 thousand 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 187 million years.