Andromeda
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Neutron star

PSR B1257+12

Also Lich

Open in Ouranos

A millisecond pulsar orbited by the first planets ever confirmed outside the Solar System.

Measured

Distance
about 2,313 light-years (published estimates 2,189–2,452)
Constellation
Virgo
Position (J2000)
RA 13h 00m 03s, Dec +12.68°

How far, from the Sun

About 2,310 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light2,310 years
  • Voyager 1's speed41.1 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h25 billion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced its planets in 1992.
  • Its distance comes from a radio parallax, measured by radio telescopes thousands of kilometres apart working as one.

Where this comes from

  • VLBI parallax 1.41 ± 0.08 mas (Yan et al. 2013, MNRAS 433, 162)
  • This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, CDS, Strasbourg, France (Wenger et al. 2000, A&AS 143, 9).
  • This research has made use of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France (DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier).

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.