Support for a prosaic explanation for the anomalous acceleration of Pioneer 10 and 11

TL;DR

This paper supports the idea that the anomalous acceleration of Pioneer spacecraft is due to anisotropic heat radiation, providing new calculations that align with observed deviations and potentially explain the entire effect.

Contribution

It offers detailed calculations based on spacecraft construction to substantiate heat radiation as the primary cause of the Pioneer anomaly.

Findings

Heat radiation can account for most of the unmodelled acceleration.

Calculations align with observed trajectory deviations.

Supports the prosaic explanation over exotic theories.

Abstract

Anderson, et al., find the measured trajectories of Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft deviate from the trajectories computed from known forces acting on them. This unmodelled acceleration can be accounted for by non-isotropic radiation of spacecraft heat. This explanation was first proposed by Murphy, but Anderson, et al. felt it could not explain the observed effect. This paper includes new calculations on the expected magnitude of this effect, based on the relative emissivities of the different sides of the spacecraft, as estimated from the known spacecraft construction. The calculations indicate the proposed effect can account for most, if not all, of the unmodelled acceleration.