Pulsar
PSR J2339-0533
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 347 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 4.63 h 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 | Aquarius |
| Period | 2.884 ms (347 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.4×10⁻²⁰ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 3.2 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.0×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 2.3×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 8.7 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,100 pc (3.6 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.30 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 4.63 h |
| Eccentricity | 0.000210 |
| Discovery | 2015 · FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 23h 39m 38.7s |
| Declination (J2000) | −5° 33′ 05″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 84° N. It stands highest at midnight in September, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 1563 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 64 million years.