Parkes observations for project P456 semester 2007OCTS

The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) project has three primary goals: (a) detection of gravitational waves from astronomical sources, (b) establishment of a pulsar timescale, and (c) improvement of our understanding of Solar-system dynamics. There are many secondary goals, some astrophysical and some instrumental/technique oriented. Achievement of these ambitious primary goals requires frequent observations of at least 20 MSPs at two or preferably three widely spaced frequencies over several years. We propose to observe such a sample at intervals of 2-3 weeks using both the 10/50cm and Multibeam receivers. The new digital filterbank (PDFB2, now commissioned) and the new baseband system (APSR, expected commissioning Sept 2007) will be used for data recording. We are making good progress toward our goals, with sub-microsecond precision achieved on nearly half of the sample. We expect significant improvement with the new instruments as well as further improvements in data-processing algorithms. We are collaborating with the European Pulsar Timing Array group to give more frequent observations and a larger pulsar sample. Because of the high sensitivity and wide bandwidths required, RFI mitigation is an important part of the project and real-time mitigation should be commissioned along with APSR.