Parkes observations for project P1147 semester 2022APRS_09

Searching for the eclipsing millisecond pulsars with low-mass companions, namely black widow pulsars, led to the discovery of the first exoplanet. The properties and formation scenarios of the planetary-mass companions around millisecond pulsars are still unsolved questions. The companions and their atmospheres are likely to be ablated by the irradiation and the pulsar wind. We propose to probe atomic and molecular compositions in the gas ablated from the companion by searching for absorption lines or even maser emission against pulsars and simultaneously measure the magnetic field strengths directly through Zeeman splitting. Any detection would be a major discovery and thus help constrain the evolutionary history and the formation scenarios of planetary-mass companions of pulsars.

寻找具有低质量伴星的掩食毫秒脉冲星（eclipsing millisecond pulsars）——即黑寡妇脉冲星（black widow pulsars）——促成了首颗系外行星（exoplanet）的发现。毫秒脉冲星周围行星质量伴星（planetary-mass companions）的性质与形成机制仍是未解之谜。这些伴星及其大气可能因辐照（irradiation）和脉冲星风（pulsar wind）而被剥蚀。我们提出，通过搜索脉冲星背景下的吸收线（absorption lines）甚至脉泽发射（maser emission），来探测从伴星剥蚀出的气体中的原子与分子组成；同时，通过塞曼分裂（Zeeman splitting）直接测量磁场强度。任何探测结果都将是重大发现，从而有助于约束脉冲星行星质量伴星的演化历史与形成机制。