Parkes observations for project P1069 semester 2020APRS_10

We propose to carry out Parkes follow-up observations of pulsar candidates identified in the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS). This is the first all-sky pulsar survey in the imaging domain in the southern hemisphere thanks to ASKAP. Eight sources have been selected because of (1) their very high fraction of circular polarisation; (2) their lack of optical counterparts; (3) strong variability, which might indicate either strong interstellar scintillation or eclipsing by companion stars if in binaries; (4) the non-detection of these relatively bright sources in previous pulsar surveys, which might indicate extreme nature of these candidates. High time and frequency resolution targeted search with UWL are proposed. Such observations will enable us to carry out deep searches of pulsars with very short spin periods or in compact binaries.

本研究拟对快速ASKAP连续谱巡天（Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey, RACS）中识别出的脉冲星候选体开展帕克斯（Parkes）望远镜后续观测。该巡天依托ASKAP（澳大利亚平方千米阵探路者）望远镜，是南半球首个成像域全天脉冲星巡天项目。本次共筛选出8个候选源，遴选依据如下：(1) 圆偏振占比极高；(2) 无对应光学天体；(3) 存在显著光变特性，该特性或源于强烈星际闪烁，若为双星系统则可能由伴星掩食效应所致；(4) 过往脉冲星巡天未探测到这些相对明亮的源，暗示该类候选体具备极端物理属性。本研究拟采用超宽频低（UWL）系统开展高时间分辨率与高频率分辨率的靶向搜寻。此类观测将支持我们对极短自旋周期脉冲星或致密双星系统中的脉冲星开展深度搜寻工作。