Parkes observations for project P860 semester 2018APRS_05

This is a request for observing time for the initial follow-up of pulsar discoveries from the low-latitude Galactic plane section of the HTRU survey (P630). We have already discovered 105 pulsars from 94% of processed data. We expect that processing should be complete within the 2018APRS semester. Extrapolation and population synthesis shows that the Galactic plane survey should result in a further 5-10 discoveries.

Interesting science can usually only be derived from a new pulsar after confirmation and a follow-up timing campaign is carried out. One year of initial timing is the minimum timespan required to fully characterise any newly-discovered pulsars, essential for deriving pulsar parameters such as the characteristic age, magnetic ?eld strength, spin-down rate, as well as to detect any unexpected behaviour of the pulsar which might result from emission instabilities.

This follow-up timing project is necessary for identifying any interesting pulsar systems discovered from the HTRU Galactic plane survey. Since all of the pulsars on the observing list here are being followed-up for the first time, they will produce completely new and exciting results. In addition, this timing project will enable a large-scale examination of the Galactic plane pulsar population, exploring the true boundaries of pulsar parameter space. Given the large number of discoveries expected and the long integration length required, this dedicated follow-up timing campaign is vital for achieving our science goals.

本申请为HTRU巡天（P630）银道面低纬度区域新发现脉冲星的初始后续观测申请。目前我们已在94%的已处理数据中发现105颗脉冲星，预计全部数据处理工作将于2018年APRS观测周期内完成。经外推分析与种群合成模拟可知，本次银道面巡天预计还将新增5至10颗脉冲星发现。新发现脉冲星的科学价值通常仅能在完成观测确认并开展后续计时观测计划后才能得以挖掘。对任意新发现脉冲星进行完整特性表征的最短周期为一年的初始计时观测，这一过程是获取脉冲星特征年龄、磁场强度、自转减慢速率等关键参数，以及探测可能由射电辐射不稳定性引发的脉冲星异常行为的必要前提。本次后续计时观测项目对于甄别HTRU银道面巡天中发现的各类特色脉冲星系统至关重要。由于本观测清单收录的所有脉冲星均为首次开展后续观测，相关研究将产出全新且极具突破性的成果。此外，本计时项目可实现对银道面脉冲星种群的大规模系统性普查，探索脉冲星参数空间的真实边界。鉴于预计发现的脉冲星数量较多且所需积分观测时长较长，本次专属后续计时观测项目对于达成既定科学目标具有关键意义。