Pulsar
PSR J1928+1245
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 331 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 3.28 h orbit with a very-low-mass companion. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Aquila |
| Period | 3.022 ms (331 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.7×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.3×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.4×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 179.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 6,080 pc (19.8 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.010 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 3.28 h |
| Discovery | 2019 · palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 28m 45.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +12° 45′ 53″ |
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 20 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 352 million years.