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Pulsar Timing Array 2D: Hellings–Downs from Discrete Sources

A 2D polar sky-chart pulsar timing array: instead of sampling a covariance matrix, the gravitational-wave background is built by literally superposing many random monochromatic sources with the real quadrupole antenna pattern, and you watch the measured pair correlation vs. angular separation converge onto the Hellings–Downs curve as more sources and observation time accumulate.

Space & Astronomy2DAdvanced60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This simulator rebuilds the same gravitational-wave-background detection signature as the 3D pulsar timing array — the Hellings–Downs correlation — from first principles rather than from a covariance-matrix shortcut. A sky array of millisecond pulsars, drawn on a flat polar sky-chart, is driven by a stochastic background literally assembled from many independent monochromatic gravitational waves arriving from random isotropic directions, each contributing to every pulsar's timing residual through the real quadrupole antenna-pattern formula. Independent per-pulsar timing noise is layered on top. Live panels show each pulsar's residual (colour-coded on the sky map), raw time-series traces for a nearby and a distant pulsar pair, and the online-accumulated pairwise correlation plotted against angular separation — letting you watch the classic Γ(θ) curve emerge from noise as observation time, source count and array size grow, exactly as real pulsar-timing consortia watch it emerge from years of data.

⚙ Under the hood

A 2D polar sky-chart pulsar timing array that builds the gravitational-wave background by literally superposing many random monochromatic sources with the real quadrupole antenna pattern, instead of sampling a covariance matrix — watch the measured pair correlation vs. angular separation converge onto the Hellings–Downs curve.

pulsar timing arraygravitational wavesHellings-DownsastrophysicsNANOGravcorrelation2D

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install