Parkes observations for project P865 semester 2014APRS

In this pilot observing programme, we propose to observe at high cadence the transient gravitational-wave and radio-wave Universe. The goals of these observations are threefold: 1) To improve the timing precision of secondary pulsars in the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) to accelerate the detection of gravitational waves; 2) To characterise the gravitational wave universe in the hitherto unexplored microhertz frequency band; and 3) To develop methods and search for fast radio bursts (FRBs) while conducting precision time experiments. To achieve these goals, we request 120 hours of observations with the Parkes multibeam system, divided into 10 epochs comprising 12-hour LST days.

This pilot project acts as a feasibility study for modifications to both the PPTA project and the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA), the consortium coordinating timing array observations in Australia, Europe, and North America, and assess the feasibility of searching for fast radio bursts while conduction precision timing observations.