Parkes observations for project P868 semester 2014OCTS

The recent discovery (Hermsen et al 2013) of variations in the X-ray flux of the pulsar PSR B0943+10, correlated with the changes in radio emission, challenged the widespread notion, based on decades of X-ray observations, that rotation-powered neutron stars are steady emitters at high energy. PSRB0943+10 is thus a key target to gain insight into the emission processes at work in the radio pulsars, by exploiting the new diagnostic tool provided by the correlated radio/X-ray variability. In particular, two different scenarios have been put forward to interpret the X-ray timing and spectral properties of PSR B0943+10. We have successfully applied for an XMM-Newton Large Program (P.I. Mereghetti) to investigate in more detail the properties of PSR B0943+10 and 400 ks of observations have been granted. We propose to use the Parkes radio telescope as a member of a large campaign of radio observations of PSR B0943+10 to be performed in simultaneity with the X-ray pointings. Parkes is essential since no other radio telescope with enough sensitivity is available at suitable longitudes for ensuring a full coverage of the XMM-Newton observations.