Scientists will now be able to accurately measure planets such as Jupiter thanks to a new breakthroughAS scientific problems go, it has been one of the weightiest in the solar system: how do you accurately measure a planet, its moons and any rings it may have to see how heavy they are?
Now, an Australian-led international team of scientists has found a new method of weighing planetary systems that promises to fine-tune models of the solar system and improve spacecraft flight plans.
The breakthrough will also speed up the quest for gravity waves, the ripples in space and time that Albert Einstein predicted in his 1915 general theory of relativity.
The new planetary scale uses radio signals regularly emitted by small rapidly spinning stars called pulsars to measure the weight of planetary systems.
"This is the first time anyone has weighed planetary systems: planets with their moons and rings," said team leader David Champion.
"And, we've provided an independent check on previous results, which is great for planetary science."
The new technique is to be published in an upcoming edition of the Astronomical Journal.
Until now, scientists weighed planets by measuring the orbits of their moons or of spacecraft as they flew past them and calculating the planet's gravitational pull.
According to team member and CSIRO astrophysicist George Hobbs, the new approach is more versatile than existing methods.
"It can be widely used to detect a range of objects, from planets to asteroids," he said.
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