Parkes observations for project P1054 semester 2021APRS_09

With this proposal we ask time for a timing follow-up campaign of the first 5 mllisecond pulsars discovered in the TRAPUM (TRAnsients and PUlsars with Meerkat) survey. The sources have been detected in targeted observations of Fermi unidentified point sources. At least two of the new pulsars belong to binary systems and an initial orbital period of 8.5 hrs has already been estimated for the brightest source. Timing observations have an essential role in exploiting the full potential of any pulsar discovery, allowing the precise measurement of rotational, astrometric and orbital parameters which, in turn, give us powerful tools to improve our understanding of the physics in extreme environments as well as of the population of neutron stars as a whole. The UWL receiver of the Parkes telescope is a sensitive, versatile instrument that will allow us to successfully time these new sources, in the bright-end of TRAPUM discoveries. The UWL has also the unique advantage of allowing detailed studies of the eclipses of the so-called 'spider' pulsars, the vast majority of which have an associated Fermi counterpart.

本观测提案申请观测时长，用于开展TRAPUM（TRAnsients and PUlsars with Meerkat，即基于MeerKAT望远镜的瞬变源与脉冲星巡天）项目首批发现的5颗毫秒脉冲星的计时后续观测工作。这些脉冲星源是在针对费米（Fermi）伽马射线空间望远镜未证认点源的靶向观测中被发现的。其中至少2颗新脉冲星属于双星系统，且最亮源的初始轨道周期已被估算为8.5小时。计时观测是充分挖掘每一次脉冲星发现科学潜力的核心环节：其可实现对脉冲星自转、天体测量与轨道参数的精确测量，进而为我们深化极端环境物理认知以及整体中子星族群的研究提供强有力的工具。帕克斯望远镜的UWL接收机是一台高灵敏度、多用途的仪器，能够顺利完成TRAPUM巡天亮端这批新发现脉冲星的计时观测任务。此外，UWL接收机还具备独特优势，可开展对所谓"蜘蛛脉冲星"掩食现象的细致研究——这类脉冲星中的绝大多数均拥有对应的费米伽马射线对应源。