Pulsar
PSR J2150+3427
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.654 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 10.592 days orbit with a neutron star. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Pegasus |
| Period | 654.3 ms |
| Period derivative | 3.6×10⁻¹⁸ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 4.9×10¹⁰ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 5.1×10²⁹ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 55.5 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 4,812 pc (15.7 thousand ly) |
| Companion | neutron star (estimated), ~1.15 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 10.592 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.6015 |
| Discovery | 2023 · fast_crafts |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 21h 50m 33.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | +34° 27′ 37″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 56° S. North of latitude 56° 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 16 thousand years ago. At that time Homo sapiens was spreading out of Africa; there was no farming yet. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 278 million years.