Parkes observations for project P1406 semester 2026APRS_01

NGC 362 is a post-core-collapse southern globular cluster (GC) where 12 pulsars have recently been discovered. The pulsar population is very diverse, containing extremely fast-spinning, mildly recycled and slow pulsars, the vast majority of which (11 out of 12) are part of binary systems with very different orbital periods and eccentricities. However, a full orbital characterization was possible only for three of these binaries. This is because the pulsars in NGC 362 are heavily affected by scintillation, and therefore are very elusive. Here, we propose to carry out a series of deep observations of NGC 362, taking advantage of the ultra-wide bandwidth of the UWL receiver, with the aim of determining the orbital parameters of the 8 binary pulsars that still lack characterization. This is of utmost importance, as it is the prerequisite for the derivation of their timing solutions. The latter would in turn allow a wealth of potential studies, such as probing the presence of a mass excess at the center of NGC 362, looking for optical and X-ray counterparts, studying the magnetic field at arcsecond scales, and more. These kinds of studies are only possible in clusters that host many pulsars. With its 12 pulsars, NGC 362 harbors a huge scientific potential, which we aim to unlock by characterizing its binaries. Moreover, we may discover additional pulsars thanks to fortuitous scintillation events.