Pulsar
PSR J2234+0944
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 276 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 10.07 h orbit with a very-low-mass companion. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Pegasus |
| Period | 3.627 ms (276 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 2.0×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 2.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.7×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.7×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 17.8 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 714 pc (2.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.018 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 10.07 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000006 |
| Discovery | 2012 · FermiAssoc, ar327, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 22h 34m 46.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | +9° 44′ 30″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 80° 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 304 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 41 million years.