A Planet Around a Pulsar

Astronomical evidence

PSR B1257+12 c orbits a rapidly rotating neutron star. A pulsar’s repeated radio signals act as a timing reference: orbital motion changes the distance that the pulses travel to Earth, producing measurable shifts in their arrival times. Planet detection therefore does not require a transit or an optical image of the planet. This system provides more than a simple periodic signal. Gravitational interactions between the planets alter their motions, allowing dynamical modeling to constrain true planetary masses. The saved catalog gives 4.3 ± 0.2 Earth masses and an orbital period of 66.5419 ± 0.0001 days for planet c. Its listed radius of 1.91 Earth radii is a calculated value. It is not a measured transit radius, and it does not establish a solid surface or an atmosphere. Mass, radius and density can have different evidential foundations even when a catalog displays them side by side.

The illustrated viewpoint

The small stellar point and barren horizon are an imagined local view. Pulsar timing establishes the planetary system, but it does not resolve these mountains, predict a visible sky of this brightness or validate the shielding of the pictured structure.

The small stellar point and barren horizon are an imagined local view. Pulsar timing establishes the planetary system, but it does not resolve these mountains, predict a visible sky of this brightness or validate the shielding of the pictured structure. All depicted life and technology are fictional.

Catalog measurements & sources

Host: PSR B1257+12. Snapshot: 25 September 2026. Errors, limits and source provenance are retained. Calculated values and model estimates are not direct measurements. Unknown is not zero; equilibrium temperature is not surface temperature.

References

• NASA Exoplanet Archive · PSR B1257+12 c · composite snapshot, 25 September 2026
• Konacki & Wolszczan 2003 · dynamical masses
• Calculated Value
• Wolszczan et al. 1992
• Konacki and Wolszczan 2003