M17

Measured

Distance

about 5,218 light-years

How far, from the Sun

About 5,220 light-years. To cross it:

• Light5,220 years
• Voyager 1's speed92.7 million years
• Driving at 100 km/h56.3 billion years

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

Facts

• turns once every 8.4 seconds
• seen to give off bursts, outbursts (a transient magnetar)
• About 5,200 light-years away (± 980).

Where this comes from

• Pulsar distances: Deller et al. 2019, ApJ 875, 100 (PSRπ, VLBA parallaxes). Magnetars: Olausen & Kaspi 2014, ApJS 212, 6, via the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg (DOI 10.26093/cds/vizier).

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.