Parkes observations for project P1038 semester 2020OCTS_10

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 determine 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 around the orbit.

PSR J1759-2402是少数几颗环绕大质量恒星运行的脉冲星（pulsar）之一。其轨道周期为8.3年，轨道具有极高的偏心率，近星点（periastron）预计将于2021年3月抵达。尽管该脉冲星最早于帕克斯（Parkes）望远镜中被发现，但洛弗尔望远镜（Lovell telescope）已对其开展了多年的监测工作。然而，洛弗尔望远镜受限的带宽、既定的维护日程，以及相对薄弱的偏振观测能力，使其无法追踪该脉冲星穿过伴星星风掩食区域的完整过程。与之形成鲜明对比的是，搭载于帕克斯望远镜的UWL凭借其超宽带宽与优异的偏振特性，能够让我们精准测定脉冲星进入伴星星风时的散射、偏振、色散量（dispersion measure）与旋转量（rotation measure）的变化情况。我们申请继续对该脉冲星进行每周一次的观测，以追踪其在轨道上的运行进程。