When a pulsar rotates, we on Earth can receive these regular radio pulses. Because neutron stars have a high inertia, their pulse periods are quite stable -- they are like very precise clocks in outer space. Observing fluctuations in the pulse rates allows us to follow pulsar movements very closely. We can also learn about the properties of super-dense materials, the behaviour of plasma in strong magnetic fields, and a number of other extreme conditions in the universe.
Because it is very expensive to produce and use equipment to examine these stars, researchers across the continent created the European Pulsar Network (EPN, also known as PULSE). It began with the development of a common format to bring together data from very different measuring devices. One early PULSE success was when three European telescopes simultaneously observed radio pulses from pulsars at three different wavelengths. In co-operation with the Australian Telescope National Facility, members of the network helped develop new instruments and computer programs, co-ordinate observation programmes, and create a publicly accessible databank (
http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/div/pulsar/data/) for all the observational information that was returned.
850 new pulsars were discovered thanks to this co-operation. This greatly exceeds the total number found over the last 30 years. Furthermore, the research team's greatest success was the discovery of the first double pulsar. That such a system exists at all is unusual, because its two components must have made it through a double supernova explosion.
Using pulsars as clocks, it is possible to measure how the presence of heavy bodies curves space-time. By observing pulsars, the researchers have shown repeatedly that close double neutron star systems send out strong gravitational waves.
The newly discovered double pulsar system has also helped beautifully to confirm Einstein's General Relativity Theory. In the system, all orbital parameters are directly astronomically confirmable, and the masses of both pulsars can be determined. But because of the effects predicted by relativity theory, five more independent mass calculations were possible. All gave the same result with great precision. This provided more evidence in favour of Einstein's theory about the connection between space, time, and material.
Project co-ordination: Prof. Andrew Lyne, University of Manchester (Great Britain), together with Prof. Nicolo D'amico, INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (Italy), Dr. Axel Jessner, Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy (Germany), Dr. Ben Stappers, ASTRON (Netherlands) and Prof. Ioannis Seiradakis, University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
On December 2 the European Commission honoured the most successful intra- European research projects of the year. The Descartes Research Prize went to five different projects, awarding 200,000 euros each. Max Planck scientists played a major role in two of the winning projects: "PULSE -- European Pulsar Research" (Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy) and "CECA - Climate and Environmental Change in the Arctic" (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology).
Source: Max Planck Institute
Related stories:
Suzaku explains cosmic powerhouses
By working in synergy with a ground-based telescope array, the joint Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/NASA Suzaku X-ray observatory is shedding new light on some of the most energetic objects in our galaxy, but objects that remain shrouded in mystery.
GLAST: The Challenge of Too Much New Data
The astrophysics community enthusiastically awaits the upcoming launch of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), the latest and most powerful gamma-ray telescope. But interpreting the huge amount of new data that GLAST will collect may prove difficult.
Researchers discover never-before-seen pulsar blasts in Crab Nebula
Astronomers and physicists using the Cornell-managed Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico have discovered radio interpulses from the Crab Nebula pulsar that feature never-before-seen radio emission spectra. This leads scientists to speculate this could be the first cosmic object with a third magnetic pole.
General relativity survives gruelling pulsar test -- Einstein at least 99.95 percent right
An international research team led by Prof. Michael Kramer of the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK, has used three years of observations of the "double pulsar", a unique pair of natural stellar clocks which they discovered in 2003, to prove that Einstein's theory of general relativity - the theory of gravity that displaced Newton's - is correct to within a staggering 0.05%. Their results are published on the14th September in the journal Science and are based on measurements of an effect called the Shapiro Delay.
Astronomers find unexpected 'heartbeats' in star
Astronomers using CSIRO's Parkes telescope in eastern Australia have detected radio "heartbeats" from a star that was not expected to have them. A US-Australian research team found that a "magnetar" -- a kind of star with the strongest magnetic fields known in the Universe -- is giving off extraordinary radio pulses, which links this rare type of star with the much more common "radio pulsars."
Dizzy Little Green Man - XMM-Newton Reveals a Tumbling Pulsar
When the first pulsar was discovered, it was nicknamed LGM-1 or 'Little Green Man 1' because it was beaming such a regular signal into space. Now an international team of astronomers have discovered a pulsar that is tumbling through space in a fashion that would surely dizzy any Little Green Men unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity. Reporting their results in Astronomy & Astrophysics, the scientists explain how this unique object, called RX J0720.4-3125 can shed light on the mysteries of pulsars.
'Deep impact' of pulsar around companion star
Astronomers have witnessed a never-seen-before event in observations by ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft - a collision between a pulsar and a ring of gas around a neighbouring star.
Parkes telescope finds new kind of star
An international team of astronomers using CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope in eastern Australia has found a new kind of cosmic object.
