Pulsar
PSR J2033+1734
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 168 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 56.308 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 | Delphinus |
| Period | 5.949 ms (168 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.1×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.5 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.6×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.1×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 25.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,739 pc (5.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.22 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 56.308 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000129 |
| Discovery | 1996 · ar4, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 20h 33m 27.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +17° 34′ 58″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 72° S. North of latitude 72° 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 5,672 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 101 million years.