Pulsar
PSR J2241-5236
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 457 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 3.50 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 | Grus |
| Period | 2.187 ms (457 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 6.9×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 5.0 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.6×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 11.4 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,042 pc (3.4 thousand ly) |
| Companion | very-low-mass companion (estimated), ~0.014 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 3.50 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000003 |
| Discovery | 2011 · FermiAssoc, ghrss |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 22h 41m 42.0s |
| Declination (J2000) | −52° 36′ 36″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 37° N. South of latitude 37° 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 around 1374 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 60 million years.