Pulsar
PSR J2144-5237
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 198 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 10.580 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 | Indus |
| Period | 5.041 ms (198 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 9.1×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.8 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.8×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 19.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,659 pc (5.4 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.21 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 10.580 days |
| Discovery | 2016 · ghrss |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 44m 35.6s |
| Declination (J2000) | −52° 37′ 07″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 37° N. South of latitude 37° S 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 5,411 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 96 million years.