Pulsar
PSR J1935+1726
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 238 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 90.764 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 | Sagitta |
| Period | 4.200 ms (238 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 61.6 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,305 pc (7.5 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.26 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 90.764 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000176 |
| Discovery | 2013 · pksngp, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 35m 04.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +17° 26′ 28″ |
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 7,518 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 133 million years.