RadioAstron gravitational redshift experiment: Status update
Abstract
A test of a cornerstone of general relativity, the gravitational redshift effect, is currently being conducted with the RadioAstron spacecraft, which is on a highly eccentric orbit around Earth. Using ground radio telescopes to record the spacecraft signal, synchronized to its ultra-stable on-board H-maser, we can probe the varying flow of time on board with unprecedented accuracy. The observations performed so far, currently being analyzed, have already allowed us to measure the effect with a relative accuracy of 4 × 10-4. We expect to reach 2.5 × 10-5 with additional observations in 2016, an improvement of almost a magnitude over the 40-year old result of the GP-A mission.
- Publication:
-
Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting - MG14
- Pub Date:
- 2018
- DOI:
- 10.1142/9789813226609_0463
- Bibcode:
- 2018mgm..conf.3569L