Precision radio-frequency pulsar timing & interstellar scintillometry

Pulsars are the dense remnants of massive exploded stars. They behave like incredible natural clocks and are used as laboratories for strong gravity. The most stable pulsars in the sky, can function together as a gravitational wave detector the size of our Galaxy. The detection of these waves in coming years will depend on detailed understanding of the pulsars, and the interstellar plasma that interferes with their signals. This work used data from the Parkes radio telescope to precisely time these clocks, and monitor how they twinkle in the sky, for precise new models of the pulsars and interstellar medium.