A 1% Measurement of the Gravitomagnetic Field of the Earth with Laser-Tracked Satellites
A new measurement of the gravitomagnetic field of the Earth is presented. The measurement has been obtained through the careful evaluation of the Lense-Thirring (LT) precession on the combined orbits of three passive geodetic satellites, LAGEOS, LAGEOS II, and LARES, tracked by the Satellite Laser R...
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Universe |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/6/9/139 |
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| author | David Lucchesi Massimo Visco Roberto Peron Massimo Bassan Giuseppe Pucacco Carmen Pardini Luciano Anselmo Carmelo Magnafico |
| author_facet | David Lucchesi Massimo Visco Roberto Peron Massimo Bassan Giuseppe Pucacco Carmen Pardini Luciano Anselmo Carmelo Magnafico |
| author_sort | David Lucchesi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A new measurement of the gravitomagnetic field of the Earth is presented. The measurement has been obtained through the careful evaluation of the Lense-Thirring (LT) precession on the combined orbits of three passive geodetic satellites, LAGEOS, LAGEOS II, and LARES, tracked by the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technique. This general relativity precession, also known as frame-dragging, is a manifestation of spacetime curvature generated by mass-currents, a peculiarity of Einstein’s theory of gravitation. The measurement stands out, compared to previous measurements in the same context, for its precision (<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>≃</mo><mn>7.4</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>3</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, at a 95% confidence level) and accuracy (<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>≃</mo><mn>16</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>3</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>), i.e., for a reliable and robust evaluation of the systematic sources of error due to both gravitational and non-gravitational perturbations. To achieve this measurement, we have largely exploited the results of the GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) mission in order to significantly improve the description of the Earth’s gravitational field, also modeling its dependence on time. In this way, we strongly reduced the systematic errors due to the uncertainty in the knowledge of the Earth even zonal harmonics and, at the same time, avoided a possible bias of the final result and, consequently, of the precision of the measurement, linked to a non-reliable handling of the unmodeled and mismodeled periodic effects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:42:28Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-1997 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:42:28Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Universe |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa0ea4816c4148a1b874b2a03da7b8e02023-11-20T11:57:14ZengMDPI AGUniverse2218-19972020-08-016913910.3390/universe6090139A 1% Measurement of the Gravitomagnetic Field of the Earth with Laser-Tracked SatellitesDavid Lucchesi0Massimo Visco1Roberto Peron2Massimo Bassan3Giuseppe Pucacco4Carmen Pardini5Luciano Anselmo6Carmelo Magnafico7Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS)—Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, Tor Vergata, 00133 Roma, ItalyIstituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS)—Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, Tor Vergata, 00133 Roma, ItalyIstituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS)—Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, Tor Vergata, 00133 Roma, ItalyIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma, ItalyIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma, ItalyIstituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell’Informazione (ISTI)—Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, ItalyIstituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell’Informazione (ISTI)—Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, ItalyIstituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS)—Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, Tor Vergata, 00133 Roma, ItalyA new measurement of the gravitomagnetic field of the Earth is presented. The measurement has been obtained through the careful evaluation of the Lense-Thirring (LT) precession on the combined orbits of three passive geodetic satellites, LAGEOS, LAGEOS II, and LARES, tracked by the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technique. This general relativity precession, also known as frame-dragging, is a manifestation of spacetime curvature generated by mass-currents, a peculiarity of Einstein’s theory of gravitation. The measurement stands out, compared to previous measurements in the same context, for its precision (<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>≃</mo><mn>7.4</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>3</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, at a 95% confidence level) and accuracy (<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mo>≃</mo><mn>16</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>3</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>), i.e., for a reliable and robust evaluation of the systematic sources of error due to both gravitational and non-gravitational perturbations. To achieve this measurement, we have largely exploited the results of the GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) mission in order to significantly improve the description of the Earth’s gravitational field, also modeling its dependence on time. In this way, we strongly reduced the systematic errors due to the uncertainty in the knowledge of the Earth even zonal harmonics and, at the same time, avoided a possible bias of the final result and, consequently, of the precision of the measurement, linked to a non-reliable handling of the unmodeled and mismodeled periodic effects.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/6/9/139gravitomagnetismLense-Thirring precessionLAGEOStime dependent gravity fieldGRACE mission |
| spellingShingle | David Lucchesi Massimo Visco Roberto Peron Massimo Bassan Giuseppe Pucacco Carmen Pardini Luciano Anselmo Carmelo Magnafico A 1% Measurement of the Gravitomagnetic Field of the Earth with Laser-Tracked Satellites Universe gravitomagnetism Lense-Thirring precession LAGEOS time dependent gravity field GRACE mission |
| title | A 1% Measurement of the Gravitomagnetic Field of the Earth with Laser-Tracked Satellites |
| title_full | A 1% Measurement of the Gravitomagnetic Field of the Earth with Laser-Tracked Satellites |
| title_fullStr | A 1% Measurement of the Gravitomagnetic Field of the Earth with Laser-Tracked Satellites |
| title_full_unstemmed | A 1% Measurement of the Gravitomagnetic Field of the Earth with Laser-Tracked Satellites |
| title_short | A 1% Measurement of the Gravitomagnetic Field of the Earth with Laser-Tracked Satellites |
| title_sort | 1 measurement of the gravitomagnetic field of the earth with laser tracked satellites |
| topic | gravitomagnetism Lense-Thirring precession LAGEOS time dependent gravity field GRACE mission |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/6/9/139 |
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