Pulsar
PSR J2145-0750
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 62 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 6.839 days orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Aquarius |
| Period | 16.052 ms (62 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 3.0×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 8.5 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 7.0×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.8×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 9.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 625 pc (2.0 thousand ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~0.50 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 6.839 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000019 |
| Discovery | 1994 · pks70, lotaas |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 45m 50.4s |
| Declination (J2000) | −7° 50′ 19″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 82° N. 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 around 13 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 36 million years.