Pulsar
PSR J1829+2456
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.041 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 1.176 days orbit with a neutron star. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Hercules |
| Period | 41.010 ms (24 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 5.2×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 12.4 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.5×10⁹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.0×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 13.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 909 pc (3.0 thousand ly) |
| Companion | neutron star (estimated), ~1.57 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.176 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.1391 |
| Discovery | 2004 · ar4, ar327, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 29m 34.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +24° 56′ 18″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 65° S. North of latitude 65° 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 around 940 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 53 million years.