Pulsar
PSR J1930+2441
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 173 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 76.406 days 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 | Vulpecula |
| Period | 5.767 ms (173 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 8.6×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 10.6 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.3×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.8×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 69.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,265 pc (10.6 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.27 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 76.406 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000177 |
| Discovery | 2019 · palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 30m 45.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | +24° 41′ 02″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 65° S. North of latitude 65° 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 11 thousand 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 189 million years.