Parkes observations for project P1176 semester 2024OCTS_01

Pulsars and their winds are among nature's most powerful particle accelerators, producing particles with energies up to a few PeVatrons. In addition to high-energy radiation from the magnetosphere, the rotational energy of a neutron star is carried away in the form of magnetized ultra-relativistic pulsar winds. Investigation of pulsar wind nebula (PWN) offers an excellent chance to determine the interaction details of relativistic flows with their surroundings that may never be possible in other classes of source. Our recent analyses of ASKAP observations of Galactic Plane uncovered previously known X-ray PWN CXOU J163802.6-471358 (nicknamed Potoroo). Recently, we have successfully detected a pulsar candidate associated with Potoroo with Parkes telescope. It is detected at 3 GHz with a dispersion measure of DM = 1553 pc cm-3 and a rotation period of 65.74 ms. Here we propose to continue timing observations for this young pulsar with the Parkes Ultra-Wideband Low (UWL) receiver. Through pulsar timing, we will be able to obtain precise measurements of the pulsar position and the spin-down of the pulsar which enables us to independently estimate the age of the system. This program will also facilitate our LBA observations to measure proper motions of the pulsar through pulse-phased resolved VLBI experiments.

脉冲星（Pulsars）及其风是自然界中最强大的粒子加速器（particle accelerators）之一，能产生能量高达数个PeV加速器（PeVatrons）级别的粒子。除了来自磁层（magnetosphere）的高能辐射外，中子星（neutron star）的旋转能量还以磁化超相对论性脉冲星风（magnetized ultra-relativistic pulsar winds）的形式被带走。对脉冲星风云（pulsar wind nebula, PWN）的研究为揭示相对论性流与其周围环境的相互作用细节提供了绝佳机会，这在其他类型的天体源中可能无法实现。我们近期对ASKAP望远镜银道面（Galactic Plane）观测数据的分析，发现了此前已知的X射线脉冲星风云CXOU J163802.6-471358（昵称Potoroo）。近期，我们利用帕克斯望远镜（Parkes telescope）成功探测到一个与Potoroo相关的脉冲星候选体。该候选体在3 GHz频段被探测到，色散量（dispersion measure, DM）为1553 pc cm⁻³，自转周期（rotation period）为65.74 ms。在此，我们提议利用帕克斯超宽带低频（Ultra-Wideband Low, UWL）接收器对这颗年轻脉冲星开展持续的脉冲星计时（pulsar timing）观测。通过脉冲星计时，我们将能够精确测量该脉冲星的位置及其自旋减速（spin-down），从而独立估算该系统的年龄。该计划还将助力我们开展LBA观测，通过脉冲相位分辨的甚长基线干涉测量（VLBI）实验来测量该脉冲星的自行（proper motions）。