Pulsar
PSR J1936+2035
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.033 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 1.064 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 | Vulpecula |
| Period | 32.928 ms (30 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 6.3×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.3 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.5×10⁹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 7.0×10³¹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 198.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,992 pc (16.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~1.19 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.064 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000053 |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 36m 38.3s |
| Declination (J2000) | +20° 35′ 47″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 69° S. North of latitude 69° 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 16 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 289 million years.