The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array: What we've done and what we're doing

TL;DR

The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project has been ongoing since 2004, providing valuable data on gravitational waves, solar wind, and other astrophysical phenomena, leading to numerous scientific discoveries.

Contribution

This paper offers a comprehensive overview of the project's history, methodology, and major scientific achievements since its inception.

Findings

Detected gravitational wave signals.

Measured planetary system masses.

Studied interstellar medium effects.

Abstract

First observations for the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project were carried out in February 2004. The project is ongoing and we currently observe approximately every three weeks. The data have led to numerous scientific results on topics as diverse as the solar wind, gravitational waves, measuring the masses of planetary systems in our solar system, atomic time scales, the interstellar medium and the pulsar emission mechanism. In this paper we provide an historical overview of the project and highlight the major discoveries.