Pulsar
PSR J1910-5959A
Millisecond pulsar · in the globular cluster NGC6752
A millisecond pulsar spinning 306 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 20.09 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 | Pavo |
| Period | 3.266 ms (306 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 33.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,120 pc (13.4 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the globular cluster NGC6752 |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.22 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 20.09 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000001 |
| Discovery | 2001 · pksgc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 11m 42.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −59° 58′ 27″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 30° N. South of latitude 30° 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 13 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 238 million years.