Pulsar
PSR J2234+0611
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 280 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 32.001 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 | 3.577 ms (280 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.2×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.7 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.1×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.0×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 10.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 971 pc (3.2 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.22 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 32.001 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.1293 |
| Discovery | 2013 · ar327, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 22h 34m 23.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | +6° 11′ 29″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 84° S. 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 1142 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 56 million years.