Phys. Rev. D 78, 103001 (2008) [11 pages]

Thermal analysis of the Pioneer anomaly: A method to estimate radiative momentum transfer

Abstract

References

Citing Articles (8)

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O. Bertolami^1,*,‡, F. Francisco^2,†,§, P. J. S. Gil^2,†,**, and J. Páramos^1,*,††
¹Departamento de Física, Instituto Superior Técnico, Avenida Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
²Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, Instituto Superior Técnico, Avenida Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal

Received 30 June 2008; revised 6 October 2008; published 3 November 2008

We present a methodology based on pointlike Lambertian sources that enables one to perform a reliable and comprehensive estimate of the overall thermally induced acceleration of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft. We show, by developing a sensitivity analysis of the several parameters of the model, that one may achieve a valuable insight into the possible thermal origin of the so-called Pioneer anomaly.

URL:

http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.78.103001

DOI:

10.1103/PhysRevD.78.103001

PACS:

07.87.+v, 24.10.Pa, 44.40.+a

^*Also at Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear.

^†Also at Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Aeronáuticas e Espaciais.

^‡orfeu@cosmos.ist.utl.pt

^§frederico.francisco@ist.utl.pt

^**p.gil@dem.ist.utl.pt

^††jorge.paramos@ist.utl.pt

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Phys. Rev. D 78, 103001 (2008) [11 pages]

Thermal analysis of the Pioneer anomaly: A method to estimate radiative momentum transfer