Pulsar
PSR J1950+2414
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 232 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 22.191 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 | 4.305 ms (232 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.9×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.6 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.9×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 9.3×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 142.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 7,269 pc (23.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.30 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 22.191 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.0798 |
| Discovery | 2015 · palfa, FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 50m 45.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | +24° 14′ 57″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 66° S. North of latitude 66° 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 24 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 421 million years.