Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Pulsar timing arrays may well be the next type of experiment to detect gravitational waves. Sensitive to lower frequencies than LIGO–Virgo, they will detect the stochastic background of massive binary black hole mergers.
What started 50 years ago as a ‘smudge’ on paper has flourished into a fundamental field of astrophysics replete with unexpected applications and exciting discoveries. To celebrate the discovery of pulsars, we look at the past, present and future of pulsar astrophysics.
Forty years ago, the two Voyager spacecraft left Earth to begin one of the most rewarding voyages of human discovery ever to have been undertaken. Project Scientist Ed Stone recounts his treasured moments from the mission.
Pulsars — fast-spinning neutron stars — are precision clocks provided by nature. Finding pulsars in the Galactic Centre orbiting Sagittarius A*, the closest supermassive black hole to the Earth, will offer unprecedented opportunities to test general relativity and its alternatives.
The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is looking for neutron stars and pulsars from its perch on the International Space Station. Keith Gendreau and Zaven Arzoumanian provide an overview of its capabilities.
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer telescope will provide a rapid response to gravitational wave event triggers in order to locate optical counterparts for subsequent multi-wavelength follow-up, explains Danny Steeghs.
Through involvement in CHIME, ALMA, the Jansky VLA and the Murchison Widefield Array, Canada is well placed in current radio astronomy facilities and the future looks even brighter, with strategic interest in the SKA and the Next Generation VLA.
