Pulsar
PSR J2021+4026
Radio-quiet pulsar · in the remnant G78.2+2.1
A neutron star spinning once every 0.265 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. Its radio beams do not sweep across Earth; its pulses are seen only in X-rays or gamma rays. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cygnus |
| Period | 265.3 ms |
| Period derivative | 5.5×10⁻¹⁴ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 77 thousand years |
| Magnetic field | 3.9×10¹² G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.2×10³⁵ erg/s |
| Distance | 2,150 pc (7.0 thousand ly) |
| Location | in the remnant G78.2+2.1 |
| Discovery | 2009 · FermiBlind |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 21m 30.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +40° 26′ 45″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 50° S. North of latitude 50° 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 7,012 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 124 million years.