Parkes observations for project P1162 semester 2023OCTS_05

Pulsar timing is a powerful tool in studying pulsar physics. Discovering more exotic pulsar systems or timing pulsars with higher precision is an essential part of pulsar astronomy. As a recently discovered millisecond pulsar, PSR J1402+13 is an interesting source for follow-up timing observations. First, its apparent spin-down rate, as reported in the catalogue, was the highest among known millisecond pulsars, causing a seeming tension with the spin-up theory. Second, its apparent high flux density and small distance seemed to give a high timing precision. We have observed J1402+13 with high cadence in the past 9 months and obtained a phase-coherent solution, which gives a much lower pdot (~ 10^{-20} s/s) thus solves the tension with the spin-up theory. We apply for another 15 hours to observe the pulsar to further extend the timing baseline, which will refine our timing solution and help us clearly evaluate its timing precision and potential to be used for pulsar timing arrays. The observation will also help us study the scintillation effect of the pulsar and measure its steep spectral index. The more comprehensive measurements of the pulsar will also facilitate observations in optical and gamma-ray bands.

脉冲星计时（Pulsar timing）是研究脉冲星物理的强有力工具。发现更多奇异脉冲星系统，或以更高精度开展脉冲星计时观测，是脉冲星天文学研究的核心内容之一。作为新近发现的毫秒脉冲星（millisecond pulsar），PSR J1402+13是后续计时观测的极具研究价值的源。首先，该星在星表中公布的视在自转减慢率（spin-down rate）为已知毫秒脉冲星中最高，这与自转加速理论（spin-up theory）看似存在理论张力。其次，其视在高流量密度（flux density）与较小距离，理论上可实现高精度计时。我们在过去9个月内以高观测频次对J1402+13开展了观测，并获得了相位相干解（phase-coherent solution），得到的pdot约为10^{-20} s/s，远低于此前公布的数值，从而解决了与自转加速理论的理论张力。我们申请再开展15小时的观测，以进一步延长计时基线，这将优化我们的计时解，帮助我们精准评估其计时精度，以及其在脉冲星计时阵列（pulsar timing arrays）中的应用潜力。本次观测还将助力我们研究该脉冲星的闪烁效应，并测量其陡谱指数。对该脉冲星更全面的观测研究，也将为光学与伽马射线波段的观测提供便利。