Test of the Pioneer anomaly with the Voyager 2 radio-ranging distance measurements to Uranus and Neptune

Abstract

In this paper we test the hypothesis that the Pioneer anomaly can be of gravitational origin by comparing the predicted model-independent shifts Delta a/a for the semimajor axis of Uranus and Neptune with the Voyager 2 radio-technical distance measurements performed at JPL-NASA. As in the case of other tests based on different methods and data sets (secular perihelion advance, right ascension/declination residuals over about one century), the orbits of the investigated planets are not affected by any anomalous acceleration like that experienced by the Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft.

arXiv commentLaTex2e, 8 pages, no figures, no tables, 17 references

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• Solar system constraints on multi-field theories of modified dynamics
• What do the orbital motions of the outer planets of the Solar System tell us about the Pioneer anomaly?
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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Why do we Still Believe in Newton's Law ? Facts, Myths and Methods in Gravitational Physics
• A comment on the new non-conventional gravitational mechanism proposed by Jaekel and Reynaud to accommodate the Pioneer anomaly