Pulsar
PSR J1849+0304_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 559 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 5.79 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 | Serpens |
| Period | 1.790 ms (559 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 146.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,503 pc (14.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.33 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 5.79 h |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 49m 32.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +3° 04′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 87° S. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 15 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 261 million years.