Pulsar
PSR J1912+1416
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 316 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 5.93 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 | Aquila |
| Period | 3.166 ms (316 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 8.1×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 6.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.6×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.0×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 66.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,166 pc (7.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.13 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 5.93 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000011 |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 12m 30.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +14° 16′ 24″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 76° S. North of latitude 76° 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 7,065 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 125 million years.