Pulsar
PSR J1831-6503
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 540 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 3.79 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 | Pavo |
| Period | 1.853 ms (540 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.2×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 13.6 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 6.4×10⁷ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.3×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 25.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,002 pc (3.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.032 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 3.79 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000800 |
| Discovery | 2026 · meerkat_trapum |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 31m 04.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | −65° 03′ 14″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 25° N. South of latitude 25° 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 around 1243 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 58 million years.