SWhat changed
Arecibo timing of pulses from the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12 revealed periodic deviations consistent with two planetary companions, reported by Wolszczan and Frail in 1992. A later participant report describes an additional lower-amplitude periodicity and a fit to the predicted mutual perturbations of the two larger planets, strengthening the planetary interpretation. A 2003 timing analysis by Konacki and Wolszczan used a longer data span and an interaction model to infer the masses and inclinations of the two larger planets.
Scientific scope
Arecibo timing of pulses from the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12 revealed periodic deviations consistent with two planetary companions, reported by Wolszczan and Frail in 1992. A later participant report describes an additional lower-amplitude periodicity and a fit to the predicted mutual perturbations of the two larger planets, strengthening the planetary interpretation. A 2003 timing analysis by Konacki and Wolszczan used a longer data span and an interaction model to infer the masses and inclinations of the two larger planets. Wolszczan and Frail reported the 1992 timing result; Konacki and Wolszczan’s later mass and inclination analysis is a separate contribution using an extended, overlapping observation series. Planet masses depend on pulsar-mass and orbital-model assumptions. Later signals and perturbation analyses should not be backdated to the first report; an orbital interpretation does not directly observe how the planets formed. The contributor list shown is for the 1992 discovery paper; later analyses have their own authors.
Evidence
The linked original works support the scoped statement and contribution attribution. WRS has not independently replayed experiments or reconstructed a full mathematical proof. Wolszczan and Frail reported the 1992 timing result; Konacki and Wolszczan’s later mass and inclination analysis is a separate contribution using an extended, overlapping observation series. Planet masses depend on pulsar-mass and orbital-model assumptions. Later signals and perturbation analyses should not be backdated to the first report; an orbital interpretation does not directly observe how the planets formed. The contributor list shown is for the 1992 discovery paper; later analyses have their own authors.
Contributors
- The named authors in the research record · SCIENCE: Authors of the 1992 discovery paper; later follow-up papers have separate authors. Paper authorship does not quantify individual effort.
- Planets Around Pulsars
- Masses and orbital inclinations of planets in the PSR B1257+12 system
- A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR1257 + 12
- Masses and orbital inclinations of planets in the PSR B1257+12 system
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