Pulsar
PSR J1940+2102_P
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.030 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 15.294 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 | 30.050 ms (33 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 76.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,968 pc (9.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~1.09 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 15.294 days |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 40m 13.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | +21° 01′ 59″ |
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 9,680 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 172 million years.