Pulsar
PSR J1857-0125_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 546 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 5.72 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 | Aquila |
| Period | 1.830 ms (546 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 214.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,913 pc (16.0 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.23 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 5.72 h |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 57m 21.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −1° 25′ 00″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 89° N. 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 16 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 284 million years.