IIT Roorkee researchers help find unprecedented changes in radio pulsar

A team of astronomers, including those from IIT Roorkee, detected changes with the help of a highly versatile, sensitive and upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT). 

The discovery is being considered a big moment for the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA) under whose banner the research project was carried out by Indian and Japanese astronomers. 

What are pulsars? 

Pulsars (PULSAting Radio Stars) are one of the most fascinating objects in the universe. They are ultra-dense dead stars that act as celestial lighthouses with radio flash once every star’s rotation. 

This flashing radio signal or pulse has unmatched stability in its period and shape. The stable shape of their pulses is regarded as their fingerprints and is crucial for fine and precise extraction of their clock-like pulse ticks. 

Measuring these time ticks for a collection of pulsars is necessary for the momentous detection of nanohertz (nHz) gravitational waves, a release from IIT Roorkee said. 

The InPTA is a collaboration of Indian and Japanese astronomers from several institutes, including IIT Roorkee. InPTA records signals from these clocks using the uGMRT, once every 14 days, to time these clocks to discover very low-frequency gravitational waves, which were predicted by Albert Einstein and are ripples in space and time and change the way clocks tick as these waves pass by.  

Earlier this year, the InPTA became a part of the international pulsar timing array (IPTA) consortium, an international collaboration aiming to catch the elusive nanohertz gravitational waves. 

IIT Roorkee Director Ajit K Chaturvedi said, “I congratulate the team on their discovery. It is a matter of great pride for us that our researchers have contributed to this work utilising the capabilities of uGMRT.” 

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