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Pulsar

PSR J1907+0009_P

Millisecond pulsar · binary system

A millisecond pulsar spinning 422 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 6.190 days orbit with a helium white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.

TypePulsar
ConstellationAquila
Period2.370 ms (422 Hz)
Dispersion measure83.0 pc/cm³
Distance3,165 pc (10.3 thousand ly)
Companionhelium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.24 M☉
Orbital period6.190 days
Discovery2025 · fast_gpps
SourceATNF Pulsar Catalogue
Right ascension (J2000)19h 07m 21.5s
Declination (J2000)+0° 09′ 00″

In the sky

Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 90° 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 10 thousand 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 183 million years.

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