Pulsar
PSR J1930-1852
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.186 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 45.060 days orbit with a neutron star. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Period | 185.5 ms |
| Period derivative | 1.8×10⁻¹⁷ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 163 million years |
| Magnetic field | 5.9×10¹⁰ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.1×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 42.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,004 pc (6.5 thousand ly) |
| Companion | neutron star (estimated), ~1.71 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 45.060 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.3989 |
| Discovery | 2015 · gbt350 |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 30m 29.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −18° 51′ 46″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 71° N. South of latitude 71° S 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 6,536 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 116 million years.