Pulsar
PSR J1816+4510
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 313 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 8.66 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 | Lyra |
| Period | 3.193 ms (313 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 4.3×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 1.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 3.8×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.2×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 38.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,335 pc (14.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.19 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 8.66 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000004 |
| Discovery | 2014 · gbncc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 16m 35.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +45° 10′ 34″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 45° S. North of latitude 45° N 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 14 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 251 million years.