Pulsar
PSR J1947+2011_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 122 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 81.969 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 | 8.178 ms (122 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.3×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 5.6 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 4.4×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.7×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 127.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,287 pc (14.0 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.34 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 81.969 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000140 |
| Discovery | 2021 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 47m 47.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | +20° 11′ 01″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 70° S. North of latitude 70° 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 14 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 248 million years.