Parkes observations for project P1038 semester 2021APRS_04

PSR~J1759-2402 is one of a small handful of pulsars which are in orbit about high mass stars. Its orbital period is 8.3 years and the orbit is highly eccentric with periastron expected in 2021 March. Although discovered at Parkes, the Lovell telescope has been monitoring the pulsar over many years. However, it’s restricted bandwidth, maintenance schedule and poorer polarization capability make it unsuitable to follow the pulsar as it enters and leaves the eclipse by the companion. In contrast, the UWL on Parkes with its wide- band and excellent polarization characteristics means that we can, and already have determined scattering, polarization, dispersion measure and rotation measure changes as the pulsar enters its companion wind. We request a continuation of our weekly observations of the pulsar to track its progress on the far side of periastron.

脉冲星PSR J1759-2402是为数不多的几颗环绕大质量恒星运行的脉冲星之一。其轨道周期为8.3年，轨道偏心率极高，预计近星点过境将发生在2021年3月。尽管该脉冲星最初是在帕克斯（Parkes）望远镜上被发现的，但洛弗尔望远镜（Lovell Telescope）已对其开展了长达多年的监测工作。然而，该望远镜受限的带宽、固定的维护日程以及相对偏弱的偏振性能，使其无法胜任该脉冲星穿过伴星掩食区域的全程跟踪观测。与之形成鲜明对比的是，帕克斯望远镜搭载的超宽频（UWL）系统凭借其超宽频带与优异的偏振特性，不仅可开展此类观测，我们也已借此测定了该脉冲星在进入伴星星风时的散射效应、偏振特性、色散量（dispersion measure）与转动量（rotation measure）变化。我们申请继续对该脉冲星开展每周一次的观测，以追踪其在近星点另一侧的运行进程。