Earth and Space

Pulsar sat-nav

Stories from Physics for 11-14 14-16 IOP RESOURCES

It has been proposed that pulsars could be used as a kind of beacon to orientate spacecraft. A spacecraft could detect the beams of X-ray radiation emitted by a number of pulsars and compare their arrival time to calculate its position within the galaxy, in a similar manner to how satellites are used in GPS systems.

References

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