Orbiting supermassive black holes in the centres of nearby galaxies contribute to a gravitational-wave background over the whole sky. Networks of millisecond pulsars are sensitive to this signal. Creating maps of this background using information from known galaxies can help us to project when (and how) we may observe it.
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(i), NASA, ESA and A. Evans (Stony Brook) et al.; (ii), SXS Lensing; (iii), NASA/Chadra X-ray Observatory; (iv) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center; main graphic, ref.12, IOP.
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This work was carried out under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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Moustakas, L.A. Tuning pulsars to listen in on massive galaxies. Nat Astron 1, 825–826 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-017-0334-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-017-0334-7
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