Pulsar
PSR J1910+1256
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 201 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 58.467 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 | 4.984 ms (201 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 9.7×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 3.1×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 38.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,778 pc (9.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.22 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 58.467 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000230 |
| Discovery | 2004 · pksmb, palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 10m 09.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +12° 56′ 25″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 77° S. North of latitude 77° N 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 9,061 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 161 million years.