Pulsar
PSR J1857+0642_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 283 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 6.735 days 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 | 3.531 ms (283 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 4.7×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 11.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.3×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.2×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 21.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 994 pc (3.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.43 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 6.735 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000007 |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 18h 57m 58.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +6° 42′ 31″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 83° 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 around 1217 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.