IndIGO | Three decades of binary pulsar observations reconfirm the existence of gravitational waves

Three decades of binary pulsar observations reconfirm the existence of gravitational waves

Published At: 2010-11-06 11:03 -

Orbital decay caused by the loss of energy by gravitational radiation. The parabola depicts the expected shift of periastron time relative to an unchanging orbit, according to general relativity. Data points represent radio observations (credit: Weisberg et al, 2010)

Three decades of radio observations of the binary pulsar PSR B1913+16

continue to show that the nature of gravitational waves is very much like that predicted by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity! The system's orbital period has been decreasing at a rate 0.997� 0.002 times that predicted by General Relativity due to gravitational radiation damping. This provides one of the most accurate experimental evidence of the validity of General Relativity.

Further reading:
ApJ Article

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Three decades of binary pulsar observations reconfirm the existence of gravitational waves

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