Pulsar
PSR J1838+1507_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 262 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 2.69 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 | Hercules |
| Period | 3.820 ms (262 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 54.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,354 pc (7.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.032 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 2.69 h |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 38m 36.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +15° 07′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 75° S. North of latitude 75° 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 7,678 years ago. At that time the first farming villages were being founded; there was no writing yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 136 million years.