Comments on: New Technique Reveals Ages of Millisecond Pulsars http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/08/new-technique-reveals-ages-of-millisecond-pulsar/ Space and astronomy news Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:06:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: DrFlimmerhttp://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/08/new-technique-reveals-ages-of-millisecond-pulsar/comment-page-1/#comment-67172 DrFlimmer Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:16:36 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=32200#comment-67172 Indeed! But I am still fascinated about the fact that we are able to "see" so many things in outer space. And we are just detecting a little amount of light! We are able to time pulsars with such an accuracy that we can even check for delays of about 100ns. Wow! Astronomy is really amazing!Milli-second pulsars are a great topic. I love all these extream things, like black holes (including AGN) and neutron stars (with all the things that belong to them). Indeed! But I am still fascinated about the fact that we are able to "see" so many things in outer space. And we are just detecting a little amount of light!
We are able to time pulsars with such an accuracy that we can even check for delays of about 100ns. Wow!
Astronomy is really amazing!

Milli-second pulsars are a great topic. I love all these extream things, like black holes (including AGN) and neutron stars (with all the things that belong to them).

]]> By: Jon Hanfordhttp://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/08/new-technique-reveals-ages-of-millisecond-pulsar/comment-page-1/#comment-67171 Jon Hanford Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:03:08 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=32200#comment-67171 Forgot to mention the associated overview paper "Gravitational Wave Astronomy Using Pulsars" can be found here: http://nanograv.org/Files/Demorest_NANOGrav_CFP_GCT.pdf . Interesting stuff, indeed :) Forgot to mention the associated overview paper "Gravitational Wave Astronomy Using Pulsars" can be found here: http://nanograv.org/Files/Demorest_NANOGrav_CFP_GCT.pdf . Interesting stuff, indeed :)

]]> By: Jon Hanfordhttp://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/08/new-technique-reveals-ages-of-millisecond-pulsar/comment-page-1/#comment-67170 Jon Hanford Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:45:49 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=32200#comment-67170 Coincidentally, an article appeared in the June 6th issue of Science News concerning the use of millisecond pulsars to detect long-period gravity waves (like those produced by the merger of two supermassive black holes). As explained in the article "A gravitational wave passing by the pulsar would warp spacetime, altering the arrival time of the radio waves at Earth ever so slightly. First the pulses would appear a little earlier, then a little later. The changes in arrival time would depend predictably on the phase and direction of propagation of the gravitational wave, as well as its distance from the pulsar. ""To detect a general background of gravitational waves, [it is estimated] astronomers would need to monitor 20 millisecond pulsars for five to 10 years, with the arrival time of the radio waves determined to an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds. Recording gravitational waves from a pair of merging supermassive black holes would require five pulsars with radio wave arrival times known to an even higher accuracy, [of about]10 nanoseconds." It is pointed out that this is not a new idea, indeed dating back to the 1970's. Even the head of the LISA project (the planned space-based GW observatory) is enthusiastic about the technique as it complements LISA and, as he points out, the hardware is already in place! Check out the NANOGrav site : http://www.nanograv.org/ . Amazing what astronomers can tease out of millisecond pulsars. Who knows, maybe this technique will be the first to detect this elusive radiation. Coincidentally, an article appeared in the June 6th issue of Science News concerning the use of millisecond pulsars to detect long-period gravity waves (like those produced by the merger of two supermassive black holes). As explained in the article "A gravitational wave passing by the pulsar would warp spacetime, altering the arrival time of the radio waves at Earth ever so slightly. First the pulses would appear a little earlier, then a little later. The changes in arrival time would depend predictably on the phase and direction of propagation of the gravitational wave, as well as its distance from the pulsar. "

"To detect a general background of gravitational waves, [it is estimated] astronomers would need to monitor 20 millisecond pulsars for five to 10 years, with the arrival time of the radio waves determined to an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds. Recording gravitational waves from a pair of merging supermassive black holes would require five pulsars with radio wave arrival times known to an even higher accuracy, [of about]10 nanoseconds." It is pointed out that this is not a new idea, indeed dating back to the 1970's. Even the head of the LISA project (the planned space-based GW observatory) is enthusiastic about the technique as it complements LISA and, as he points out, the hardware is already in place! Check out the NANOGrav site : http://www.nanograv.org/ . Amazing what astronomers can tease out of millisecond pulsars. Who knows, maybe this technique will be the first to detect this elusive radiation.

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