Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: We present the result of the analysis of the GREAT (Galileo gravitational Redshift test with Eccentric sATellites) experiment. An elliptic orbit induces a periodic modulation of the fractional frequency difference between a ground clock and the satellite clock, partly due to the gravitational redshift, while the good stability of Galileo clocks allows one to test this periodic modulation to a high level of accuracy. GSAT0201 and GSAT0202, with their large eccentricity and on-board H-maser clocks, are perfect candidates to perform this test. Satellite laser ranging data allows us to partly decorrelate the orbit perturbations from the clock errors. By analyzing several years of Galileo tracking data, we have been able to improve the Gravity probe A test (1976) of the gravitational redshift by a factor of 5.6, providing, to our knowledge, the first reported improvement since more than 40 years.
Source: Comptes Rendus Physique
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Université, Systèmes de Référence Temps-Espace, Laboratoire Temps Espace, European Space Operations Centre, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Géoazur, University of Bern, European Space Research and Technology Centre, European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Centre
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $1,300
Award: G1949452917
OpenAlex ID: W2944687278