Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2012, detailing early conceptual research by the Max Planck Institute on using pulsars as deep space navigation beacons for future spacecraft.
Satellite navigation systems do not work in space, especially when the satellites are far away from orbiting one tiny planet called Earth. But scientists think they might have cracked a new system for navigation in deep space by using pulsars as beacons to accurately guide spaceships through the stars.
Navigating by the Stars
The system is reminiscent of sailors steering using the stars and the moon, but instead using neutron stars to set a course precisely through the universe. The new system would use X-ray light from pulsars to triangulate a position in space and works everywhere in the universe to an accuracy of within a few miles.
When stars much more massive than our Sun reach the end of their lives, their final demise is marked by a dramatic supernova explosion that destroys most of the star. The proposed system would use pulsars (spinning neutron stars) to steer a course through the vastness of the universe.
The Power of Pulsars
Many dying stars leave behind compact, incredibly dense remnants known as neutron stars. Those detected have strong magnetic fields that focus emission into two highly directional beams. Neutron stars rotate rapidly, and if the beam points in the direction of the Earth, we see a pulse of radiation at extremely regular intervals, and hence they are called pulsars.
A team from Germany’s Max Planck Institute began developing a navigation technology for spacecraft based on the regular emission of X-ray light from pulsars.
Their periodic signals have timing stabilities entirely comparable to atomic clocks and provide characteristic time signatures that can be used as natural navigation beacons, similar to the use of GPS satellites for navigation on Earth.
Triangulating Position
By comparing the arrival times of the pulses measured on board the navigator spacecraft with those predicted at a reference location, the spacecraft position can be precisely determined with an accuracy of a few miles, everywhere in the solar system and far beyond.
Werner Becker, professor of astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, who led the study, said: “Looking forward, it’s incredibly exciting to think that we have now the technology to chart our route to other stars.”
Future satnav systems could be using neutron stars to safely steer a course through the universe, just as sailors historically navigated the vast seas by the stars and the moon.
