Pulsar
PSR J1803-6707
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 468 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 9.13 h 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 | Pavo |
| Period | 2.135 ms (468 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.8×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.8 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.0×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 7.5×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 38.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,443 pc (4.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.34 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 9.13 h |
| Discovery | 2020 · meerkat_trapum, FermiBlind |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 03m 04.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | −67° 07′ 36″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 23° N. South of latitude 23° 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 4,706 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 83 million years.