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Pulsar

PSR J1929+1259_P

Millisecond pulsar · binary system

A millisecond pulsar spinning 351 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 50.094 days orbit with a helium white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.

TypePulsar
ConstellationAquila
Period2.850 ms (351 Hz)
Dispersion measure90.9 pc/cm³
Distance2,893 pc (9.4 thousand ly)
Companionhelium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.29 M☉
Orbital period50.094 days
Discovery2025 · fast_gpps
SourceATNF Pulsar Catalogue
Right ascension (J2000)19h 29m 50.3s
Declination (J2000)+12° 58′ 59″

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 9,436 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 167 million years.

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