Pulsar
PSR J1953+1006_P
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 386 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 2.89 h orbit with a very-low-mass companion. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Aquila |
| Period | 2.590 ms (386 Hz) |
| Dispersion measure | 57.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,473 pc (8.1 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.013 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 2.89 h |
| Discovery | 2025 · fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 19h 53m 33.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +10° 05′ 59″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 80° S. North of latitude 80° 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 8,066 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 143 million years.