Pulsar
PSR J1903-7051
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 278 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 11.051 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 | Pavo |
| Period | 3.598 ms (278 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.0×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 5.5 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.0×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 8.8×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 19.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 930 pc (3.0 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.34 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 11.051 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000002 |
| Discovery | 2015 · FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 03m 38.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −70° 51′ 44″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 19° N. South of latitude 19° S it never sets. 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 1008 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 54 million years.