Measuring the mass of solar system planets using pulsar timing

Details Measuring the mass of solar system planets using pulsar timing Measuring the mass of solar system planets using pulsar timing

Aug 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aipc.1357...93c&link_type=abstract

RADIO PULSARS: AN ASTROPHYSICAL KEY TO UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1357, pp. 93-96 (

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Planets, Mass, Spacecraft, Data Acquisition, Orbital And Rotational Dynamics, Mass And Mass Distribution, Spacecraft/Atmosphere Interactions, Data Acquisition: Hardware And Software

Scientific paper

High-precision pulsar timing relies on a solar system ephemeris in order to convert times of arrival (TOAs) of pulses measured at an observatory to the solar system barycenter. Any error in the conversion to the barycentric TOAs leads to a systematic variation in the observed timing residuals; specifically, an incorrect planetary mass leads to a predominantly sinusoidal variation having a period and phase associated with the planet's orbital motion about the Sun. By using an array of pulsars (PSRs J0437-4715, J1744-1134, J1857+0943, J1909-3744), the masses of the planetary systems from Mercury to Saturn have been determined. These masses are consistent with the best-known masses determined by spacecraft observations, with the mass of the Jovian system, 9.547921(2)×10-4Msolar, being significantly more accurate than the mass determined from the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft, and consistent with but less accurate than the value from the Galileo spacecraft. While spacecraft are likely to produce the most accurate measurements for individual solar system bodies, the pulsar technique is sensitive to planetary system masses and has the potential to provide the most accurate values of these masses for some planets.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Measuring the mass of solar system planets using pulsar timing does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Measuring the mass of solar system planets using pulsar timing, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Measuring the mass of solar system planets using pulsar timing will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1738187