Parkes observations for project P1322 semester 2024APRS_08

Pulsars are critical for probing fundamental questions in various domains of physics and astrophysics. Traditional pulsar search methods, focusing on periodicity analysis of time series data, have cataloged over 3,400 pulsars. However, these methods face challenges in detecting millisecond pulsars (MSPs) and binary pulsars due to dispersion measure smearing and the modulation in spin period due to Doppler smearing effect. An alternative way to overcome these challenges has been the use of all-sky imaging surveys at radio wavelengths, enabling the discovery of pulsars through imaging rather than traditional searches. This approach, which detects phase-averaged emission from pulsars, overcomes the limitations of traditional methods. Imaging surveys, such as those conducted by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), are particularly effective in identifying pulsars without prior knowledge of their pulse width, dispersion measure, or binarity. The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS) has identified 25 steep spectrum sources with a spectral index consistent with pulsars. To confirm the pulsar nature of these sources, in this proposal, we will use the Ultra-Wide-low (UWL) receiver of the Parkes radio telescope. Due to a large bandwidth coverage, the UWL receiver of Parkes is an ideal instrument to achieve this goal.