PSR B1257+12
PSR B1257+12 — a spinning neutron star (a pulsar) about 2,300 light-years away in Virgo, and the site of a historic first: in 1992 the FIRST exoplanets ever confirmed were found orbiting it. Three small worlds circle a dead star, bathed in its radiation. Descend to explore this exotic system.
Science
Classification
- Type
- Planetary system
- Distance
- ~2,300 light-years · its real distance from the Sun
- Explore
- Descend to see the star and its confirmed planets
How we know
- Note
- A real star system, shown at its measured position in the galaxy. Its star and confirmed planets — their measured sizes and how each was found — are on the cards inside; descend to explore them. Distances follow Gaia parallax; planet data follow the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
Discovery & history
- Name
- A pulsar catalogue designation (B1257+12 gives its sky position). The star and its planets were unofficially nicknamed 'Lich', 'Draugr', 'Poltergeist' and 'Phobetor' — undead/spectral names fitting worlds around a dead star (not formal IAU names).
In 1992 Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail detected tiny, clockwork shifts in this pulsar's radio beats — the pull of unseen planets. It was the first confirmed detection of any exoplanets, three years before the first planet around a normal star. That the very first worlds found orbited a stellar corpse, not a sun, stunned astronomers. The distance is genuinely uncertain (~2,300 ly from timing parallax; some estimates differ).
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image