Pulsar
PSR J1943+2210
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 197 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 8.311 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 | 5.084 ms (197 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 8.8×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 9.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.1×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.6×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 174.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,040 pc (13.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.33 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 8.311 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000002 |
| Discovery | 2015 · palfa, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 43m 16.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +22° 10′ 23″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 68° S. North of latitude 68° 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 234 million years.