Pulsar
PSR J1814+0045_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 433 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 4.86 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 | 2.310 ms (433 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 124.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 8,950 pc (29.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.064 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 4.86 h |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 14m 10.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +0° 45′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 89° S. 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 29 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 518 million years.