PRS B1919+21

This image is a recreation of a single plot from a collection of charts from Radio Observations of the Pulse Profiles and Dispersion Measures of Twelve Pulsars by Harold D. Carft, Jr.

It presents successive pulses from the first pulsar discovered, PSR B1919+21 (also known by its older name, CP 1919). It was made famous by its use as the cover of Joy Division’s 1979 debut album, Unknown Pleasures, and has a fascinating history.

The chart is generated using aproximate data sourced from a vector image by Michael Zoellner.