Pulsar
PSR J1947-1120
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 446 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 10.264 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 | Aquila |
| Period | 2.240 ms (446 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 50.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 3,104 pc (10.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.23 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 10.264 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000400 |
| Discovery | 2025 · misc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 47m 38.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −11° 20′ 27″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 79° N. South of latitude 79° S 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 10 thousand 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 180 million years.