Pulsars are natural cosmic clocks. On long timescales they rival the precision of terrestrial atomic clocks. Using a technique called pulsar timing, the exact measurement of pulse arrival times allows a number of applications, ranging from testing theories of gravity to detecting gravitational waves. Also an external reference system suitable for autonomous space navigation can be defined by pulsars, using them as natural navigation beacons, not unlike the use of GPS satellites for navigation on Earth. By comparing pulse arrival times measured on-board a spacecraft with predicted pulse arrivals at a reference location (e.g. the solar system barycenter), the spacecraft position can be determined autonomously and with high accuracy everywhere in the solar system and beyond. We describe the unique properties of pulsars that suggest that such a navigation system will certainly have its application in future astronautics. We also describe the on-going experiments to use the clock-like nature of pulsars to “construct” a galactic-sized gravitational wave detector for low-frequency (fGW∼ 10 − 9– 10 − 7 Hz) gravitational waves. We present the current status and provide an outlook for the future.

Becker, W., Kramer, M., Sesana, A. (2018). Pulsar Timing and Its Application for Navigation and Gravitational Wave Detection. SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS, 214(1) [10.1007/s11214-017-0459-0].

Pulsar Timing and Its Application for Navigation and Gravitational Wave Detection

Sesana A.
2018

Abstract

Pulsars are natural cosmic clocks. On long timescales they rival the precision of terrestrial atomic clocks. Using a technique called pulsar timing, the exact measurement of pulse arrival times allows a number of applications, ranging from testing theories of gravity to detecting gravitational waves. Also an external reference system suitable for autonomous space navigation can be defined by pulsars, using them as natural navigation beacons, not unlike the use of GPS satellites for navigation on Earth. By comparing pulse arrival times measured on-board a spacecraft with predicted pulse arrivals at a reference location (e.g. the solar system barycenter), the spacecraft position can be determined autonomously and with high accuracy everywhere in the solar system and beyond. We describe the unique properties of pulsars that suggest that such a navigation system will certainly have its application in future astronautics. We also describe the on-going experiments to use the clock-like nature of pulsars to “construct” a galactic-sized gravitational wave detector for low-frequency (fGW∼ 10 − 9– 10 − 7 Hz) gravitational waves. We present the current status and provide an outlook for the future.
Articolo in rivista - Review Essay
Atomic clocks; Autonomous spacecraft navigation; Gravitational wave detector; Gravitational waves; High precision timing; Neutron stars; Pulsar timing; Pulsar-based-navigation; Pulsar-navigation; Pulsars; XNAV
English
2018
214
1
30
none
Becker, W., Kramer, M., Sesana, A. (2018). Pulsar Timing and Its Application for Navigation and Gravitational Wave Detection. SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS, 214(1) [10.1007/s11214-017-0459-0].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/290647
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