Related papers: Testing Gravity in the Outer Solar System: Results…
Looking at the orbits of small bodies with large semimajor axes, we are compelled to see patterns. Some of these patterns are noted as strong indicators of new or hidden processes in the outer Solar System, others are substantially…
A pilot experiment suitable to test Newton's law of gravity down to the regime of acceleration typical of galaxies has been carried out in Omega Centauri. Stars in the extreme periphery of this globular cluster are used as test particles…
We work out the impact that the recently determined time-dependent component of the Pioneer Anomaly (PA), interpreted as an additional exotic acceleration of gravitational origin with respect to the well known PA-like constant one, may have…
We report a measurement of the local acceleration $g$ with ultracold neutrons based on quantum states in the gravity potential of the Earth. The new method uses resonant transitions between the states $|1> -> |3>$ and for the first time…
It is still an open question how the Solar system is structured beyond 100 au from the Sun. Our understanding of this vast region remains very limited and only recently we have become aware of the existence there of a group of enigmatic…
A recent proposal for the detection of a hypothetical gravitating body 500 AU from the Sun (termed Planet 9) calls for a fleet of near-relativistic spacecraft, equipped with high-precision clocks, to be sent to a region where the object is…
A distant, massive planet in the outer solar system has recently been proposed to explain some observed features of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). Here we use N-body simulations of the formation of the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud as…
Using precession of orbits due to non-Newtonian interaction between two celestial bodies and modern tracking data of satellites, planets and a pulsar we obtain new more precise limits on possible Yukawa-type deviations from the Newton law…
In order to satisfy the equivalence principle, any non-conventional mechanism proposed to gravitationally explain the Pioneer anomaly, in the form in which it is presently known from the so-far analyzed Pioneer 10/11 data, cannot leave out…
The migration of Neptune's resonances through the proto-Kuiper belt has been imprinted in the distribution of small bodies in the outer Solar System. Here we analyze five published Neptune migration models in detail, focusing on the high…
We study the impact of the cosmological environment on the solar gravitational system by the imbedding formalism of Gautreau. It appears that the cosmic mean-mass density and the cosmological constant give negligibly small contribution to…
The orbital element distribution of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with large pericenters has been suggested to be influenced by the presence of an undetected, large planet at >200 AU from the Sun. To find additional observables caused by…
The outer Solar System contains a large number of small bodies (known as trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs) that exhibit diverse types of dynamical behavior. The classification of bodies in this distant region into dynamical classes --…
The Doppler-tracking data of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft show an unmodelled constant acceleration in the direction of the inner Solar System. Serious efforts have been undertaken to find a conventional explanation for this effect, all…
We investigated the impact of three different modifications of Newtonian gravity on motions of Keplerian objects within the Solar System. These objects are located at distances of the order of the distance to the Oort cloud. With these…
The works in this portfolio test the hypothesis that it is not possible to extrapolate the Newtonian inverse square law of gravity from Solar System to galaxy scales. In particular, I look into various tests of Modified Newtonian Dynamics…
In 1972 and 1973 the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions were launched. They were the first to explore the outer solar system and achieved stunning breakthroughs in deep-space exploration. But beginning in about 1980 an unmodeled force of \sim 8…
Thousands of small bodies, known as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), orbit the Sun beyond Neptune. TNOs are remnants of the planets' formation from a disc of gas and dust, so it is puzzling that they move mostly on eccentric orbits inclined…
Analysis of radio-metric tracking data from the Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft at distances between 20 - 70 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun has consistently indicated the presence of an anomalous, small, constant Doppler frequency drift. The…
Experimental tests of gravity performed in the solar system show a good agreement with general relativity. The latter is however challenged by the Pioneer anomaly which might be pointing at some modification of gravity law at ranges of the…