An explanation of the Pioneer anomaly involving accelerated atomic clocks K. Wilhelm1 and B. N. Dwivedi2 1Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany 2Department of Applied Physics, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India
Received: 09 Jun 2011 – Revised: 27 Sep 2011 – Accepted: 12 Oct 2011 – Published: 09 Nov 2011
Abstract. The Pioneer anomaly stands for unexplained frequency shifts of the
Doppler radio-tracking signals received at the ground stations from the
Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft in disagreement with expectations based
on model calculations. We consider here observations of Pioneer 10 at
heliocentric distances between 40 ua and 70.5 ua over a time interval of
11.55 years from 1987 to 1998. The anomaly has been interpreted in the
literature either as a Doppler shift caused by an apparent spacecraft
deceleration not accounted for by known effects, or as an unexpected clock
acceleration of the frequency standards at the ground stations. The reasons
for the anomalous behaviour are not understood in both cases. Based on a
gravitational impact model – requiring a secular mass increase of all
massive bodies – a solution is proposed that implies a clock acceleration
with a value close to that of the Hubble constant.
Citation: Wilhelm, K. and Dwivedi, B. N.: An explanation of the Pioneer anomaly involving accelerated atomic clocks, Astrophys. Space Sci. Trans., 7, 487-494, doi:10.5194/astra-7-487-2011, 2011.