Parkes observations for project P1147 semester 2022APRS_10

Searching for the eclipsing millisecond pulsars with low-mass companions, namely black widow pulsars, led to the discovery of the first exoplanet. The properties and formation scenarios of the planetary-mass companions around millisecond pulsars are still unsolved questions. The companions and their atmospheres are likely to be ablated by the irradiation and the pulsar wind. We propose to probe atomic and molecular compositions in the gas ablated from the companion by searching for absorption lines or even maser emission against pulsars and simultaneously measure the magnetic field strengths directly through Zeeman splitting. Any detection would be a major discovery and thus help constrain the evolutionary history and the formation scenarios of planetary-mass companions of pulsars.

搜寻拥有低质量伴星的食毫秒脉冲星（eclipsing millisecond pulsars）——即黑寡妇脉冲星（black widow pulsars）——促成了人类首颗系外行星的发现。目前，毫秒脉冲星周围行星质量伴星的性质与形成机制仍是未解之谜。这类伴星及其大气大概率会因脉冲星的辐照与脉冲星风而被剥离。本研究计划通过搜寻脉冲星背景下的吸收线乃至脉泽发射，探测从伴星剥离的气体中的原子与分子组成，并同时通过塞曼分裂（Zeeman splitting）直接测量其磁场强度。任何相关探测都将是一项重大发现，进而有助于约束脉冲星周围行星质量伴星的演化历史与形成机制。