Pulsar
PSR J1933+1726
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 46 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 5.154 days orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Sagitta |
| Period | 21.507 ms (46 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 4.9×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 7.0 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.0×10⁹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.9×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 156.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,072 pc (13.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~0.94 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 5.154 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000067 |
| Discovery | 2015 · palfa |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 33m 23.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +17° 26′ 50″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 73° S. North of latitude 73° 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 13 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 236 million years.