Pulsar
PSR J2236-5527
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 145 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 12.689 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 | Grus |
| Period | 6.908 ms (145 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 9.6×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 11.4 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.6×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.1×10³³ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 20.1 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 2,070 pc (6.8 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.26 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 12.689 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000050 |
| Discovery | 2013 · htru_pks |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 22h 36m 51.8s |
| Declination (J2000) | −55° 27′ 49″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 35° N. South of latitude 35° 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 6,752 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 120 million years.