Pulsar
PSR J1824-2452K
Millisecond pulsar · in the globular cluster M28(NGC6626)
A millisecond pulsar spinning 224 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 3.910 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 | Sagittarius |
| Period | 4.461 ms (224 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 119.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 5,370 pc (17.5 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the globular cluster M28(NGC6626) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.16 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 3.910 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.0015 |
| Discovery | 2008 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 24m 32.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −24° 52′ 11″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 65° N. South of latitude 65° 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 18 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 311 million years.