Parkes observations for project P888 semester 2015APRS

Erratically-emitting neutron stars like Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs), represent approximately 3% (and increasing) of radio-emitting pulsars as they are found via searches of archival and current pulsar surveys. The sporadic emission from these sources makes them difficult to study and nearly all information about the properties of the objects is the result of dedicated monitoring and timing programs at Parkes telescope. This project represents an effort to obtain accurate timing solutions of a sample of sparse-emitting pulsars. We will monitor and time 6 sources to determine basic RRAT properties including spin period, spin period derivative, and polarization properties. Thus enabling us to identify physical causes for the extreme emission, enable high-energy follow-up observations, deduce how these pulsars are related to the general pulsar and magnetar populations, and explore the distribution of extreme radio intermittence in neutron stars.

诸如旋转射电暂现源（Rotating Radio Transients，RRATs）这类射电辐射不稳定的中子星，在已发现的射电脉冲星中占比约3%且该比例仍在持续上升，其发现途径涵盖档案脉冲星巡天与当前正在开展的脉冲星巡天搜索工作。这类源的间歇性射电辐射使其研究难度极大，目前关于该类天体性质的几乎所有信息，均来自帕克斯（Parkes）望远镜实施的专门监测与计时观测项目。本项目旨在为一批射电辐射稀疏的脉冲星样本获取精确的计时解。我们将对6个目标源开展监测与计时观测，以确定RRATs的基本性质，包括自转周期、自转周期导数以及偏振特性。由此得以明确其极端辐射的物理成因，支撑高能后续观测工作，推演该类脉冲星与普通脉冲星及磁星（magnetar）族群的演化关联，并探究中子星极端射电间歇性的分布规律。