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Neutron star

PSR J0437-4715

Also PSR B0435-47

Open in Ouranos

The nearest and brightest millisecond pulsar known, a neutron star spinning about 174 times a second.

Measured

Distance
about 510 light-years (published estimates 506–514)
Constellation
Pictor
Position (J2000)
RA 4h 37m 16s, Dec −47.25°

How far, from the Sun

About 510 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light510 years
  • Voyager 1's speed9.06 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h5.5 billion years

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

Facts

  • It spins about 174 times a second.
  • Its mass, about 1.42 Suns, is known precisely from its orbit with a white dwarf.
  • A 2024 NICER analysis put its radius at about 11.4 km; a 2025 reanalysis of NICER data gets about 12 to 15 km.

Where this comes from

  • Deller et al. 2008, VLBA parallax (156.3 ± 1.3 pc)

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.