Scientists from the SETI Institute have used data from the collapsed Arecibo Observatory to study signal distortions from pulsars. The team, led by Sofia Sheikh, focused on how these signals change as they travel through space. The researchers studied 23 pulsars, including six that had not been previously analyzed.
They found patterns in the signals that show how gas and dust between stars affect them. The study looked at a phenomenon called diffractive interstellar scintillation (DISS). This causes distortions in radio waves due to charged particles in the interstellar medium.
It is similar to how light makes rippling shadows when it passes through water.
Pulsar signal distortions studied
The team’s findings showed that the bandwidths of pulsar signals were wider than current models suggest.
This means that our understanding of the interstellar medium needs to be updated. Including galactic structures like spiral arms in the models provided better explanations for the data. Understanding pulsar signals is important because they can be used as a precise timing mechanism.
Projects like the NANOGrav pulsar array use these signals to measure distortions in space-time caused by gravitational waves. These waves are thought to come from events in the early universe. “This work shows the value of large, archived datasets,” said Sheikh.
“Even years after the observatory’s collapse, its data continues to provide critical information that can help us understand the galaxy better and study things like gravitational waves.”
The team’s research was published on November 26 in The Astrophysical Journal.
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