Can the Pioneer anomaly be of gravitational origin? A phenomenological answer

Abstract

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 of consideration its impact on the motion of the planets of the Solar System as well, especially those orbiting in the regions in which the anomalous behavior of the Pioneer probes manifested itself. In this paper we, first, discuss the residuals of the right ascension αand declination δof Uranus, Neptune and Pluto obtained by processing various data sets with different, well established dynamical theories (JPL DE, IAA EPM, VSOP). Second, we use the latest determinations of the perihelion secular advances of some planets in order to put on the test two gravitational mechanisms recently proposed to accommodate the Pioneer anomaly based on two models of modified gravity. Finally, we adopt the ranging data to Voyager 2 when it encountered Uranus and Neptune to perform a further, independent test of the hypothesis that a Pioneer-like acceleration can also affect the motion of the outer planets of the Solar System. The obtained answers are negative.

arXiv commentLatex2e, 26 pages, 6 tables, 2 figure, 47 references. It is the merging of gr-qc/0608127, gr-qc/0608068, gr-qc/0608101 and gr-qc/0611081. Final version to appear in Foundations of Physics

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Cited by in corpus (20)

• Gravitational Anomalies in the Solar System?
• Constraining f(T) gravity in the Solar System
• On the recently determined anomalous perihelion precession of Saturn
• On the anomalous secular increase of the eccentricity of the orbit of the Moon
• Preliminary constraints on the location of the recently hypothesized new planet of the Solar System from planetary orbital dynamics
• The Flyby Anomaly and the Effect of a Topological Torsion Current
• Can the Pioneer anomaly be induced by velocity-dependent forces? Tests in the outer regions of solar system with planetary dynamics
• Gravitation, electromagnetism and the cosmological constant in purely affine gravity
• Conformal Cosmology and the Pioneer Anomaly
• Orbital effects of the time-dependent component of the Pioneer anomaly
• Effect of TTC on Satellite Orbital Mechanics
• Constraints on $f(R_{ijkl}{R}^{ijkl})$ gravity: An evidence against the covariant resolution of the Pioneer anomaly
• On the effect of ocean tides and tesseral harmonics on spacecraft flybys of the Earth
• Re-Examination of Globally Flat Space-Time
• On a correlation among azimuthal velocities and the flyby anomaly sign
• Does the Neptunian system of satellites challenge a gravitational origin for the Pioneer anomaly?
• Pioneer 10 and 11 Spacecraft Anomalous Acceleration in the light of the Nonsymmetric Kaluza-Klein (Jordan-Thiry) Theory
• On the possible onset of the Pioneer anomaly
• A Model for the Pioneer Anomaly
• The dynamical nature of time