Pulsar Timing Tests General Relativity
In February 2026, the Breakthrough Listen Galactic Center Survey identified an 8.19-millisecond pulsar candidate near Sagittarius A* — the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's center. If confirmed, timing its radio pulses could test General Relativity with unprecedented precision. Pulses traveling through curved spacetime experience Shapiro delay (extra travel time), gravitational redshift (frequency shift), and frame dragging (path deflection from the spinning black hole). Each effect leaves a signature in the timing residuals.
Breakthrough Listen Galactic Center Survey — Green Bank Telescope, 2026
Mouse X: eccentricity | Mouse Y: BH spin | Click: palette | Space: pause | E: effects | O: orbits | I: info