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Pulsar

PSR J1919+1341_P

Millisecond pulsar · binary system

A millisecond pulsar spinning 86 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 8.89 h orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.

TypePulsar
ConstellationAquila
Period11.660 ms (86 Hz)
Dispersion measure394.5 pc/cm³
Distance8,729 pc (28.5 thousand ly)
CompanionCO white dwarf (estimated), ~0.93 M☉
Orbital period8.89 h
Eccentricity0.000010
Discovery2025 · fast_gpps
SourceATNF Pulsar Catalogue
Right ascension (J2000)19h 19m 23.0s
Declination (J2000)+13° 40′ 59″

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 28 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 505 million years.

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