Parkes observations for project P743 semester 2017APRS_BPSR_05

This proposal aims to extend our survey observations of the Magellanic Clouds already reported by (Ridley et al.~2013) which are primarily motivated by the promise of probing their millisecond pulsar population. From observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud so far, which cover about 20\% of its spatial extent, we have discovered and obtained preliminary timing solutions for 8 normal pulsars. In this coming semester, we wish to complete the timing of these pulsars, and bring the survey coverage to 50\%. Based on our results so far, we
anticipate the discovery of around 10 new normal pulsars and possibly a few millisecond pulsars. For the first time, we would be able to definitively probe the relative populations of normal and millisecond pulsars in an external galaxy which has a significantly different star formation history to the Milky Way. These observations pave the way for future surveys of the Magellanic Clouds with MeerKAT.

这份提案旨在扩展我们已报道的麦哲伦云（Magellanic Clouds）巡天观测（Ridley等人，2013），其核心动机是探索该区域的毫秒脉冲星（millisecond pulsar）群体。截至目前，针对大麦哲伦云（Large Magellanic Cloud）约20%空间范围的观测中，我们已发现8颗正常脉冲星并获得初步计时解（timing solutions）。在即将到来的观测学期，我们计划完成这些脉冲星的计时观测，并将巡天覆盖范围提升至50%。基于现有结果，我们预计将发现约10颗新的正常脉冲星，以及可能几颗毫秒脉冲星。这将是我们首次明确探测河外星系中正常脉冲星与毫秒脉冲星的相对数量分布——该河外星系的恒星形成历史与银河系（Milky Way）存在显著差异。这些观测将为未来使用MeerKAT望远镜开展麦哲伦云巡天奠定基础。