Pulsar
PSR J2116+1345
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 451 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 4.815 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 | Pegasus |
| Period | 2.219 ms (451 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.6×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 13.3 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 7.8×10⁷ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 9.6×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 30.3 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,732 pc (8.9 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.22 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 4.815 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000013 |
| Discovery | 2023 · ar327, FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 16m 49.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +13° 45′ 21″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 76° S. North of latitude 76° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in August, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out 8,911 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 158 million years.