Pulsar
PSR J2019+2425
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 254 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 76.512 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 | 3.935 ms (254 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 7.0×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.7×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 4.6×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 17.2 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,163 pc (3.8 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.36 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 76.512 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000111 |
| Discovery | 1993 · ar3, gbncc, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 19m 31.9s |
| Declination (J2000) | +24° 25′ 15″ |
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 around 1768 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 67 million years.