Parkes observations for project P1007 semester 2019APRS_03

Recently, extreme plasma lensing of pulsar emission has been observed in two eclipsing binaries, PSR B1957+20 and PSR B1744-24A. These lensing events are an extremely sensitive probe of pulsar emission, resolving physical scales of ~10 km at the pulsar, and can be used to measure the magnetization of the intrabinary material, and constrain outflow velocities and mass-loss rates of the binaries. We propose to observe the 5 brightest eclipsing pulsars (B1718-19, J1723-2837, B1744-24A, B1957+20, J2051-0827), to search for the effects of plasma lensing, and to make use of the new Parkes Ultra Wide Band Low Frequency (UWL) receiver, which will allow us to resolve lensing events in frequency and time, which is crucial for constraining physical parameters. This study will help determine how ubiquitous the effects of plasma lensing are in eclipsing binaries, put improved physical scales on the locations of pulsar emission, and help shed light on the nature of eclipses and evolutionary pathways of these systems.