Parkes observations for project P860 semester 2018OCTS_09

This is a request for observing time for the initial follow-up of pulsar discoveries from the low-latitude Galactic plane section of the HTRU survey (P630). We are in the final stages of our first pass processing with our periodicity search algorithm, and have already discovered 106 previously unknown pulsars. We expect that processing should be complete within the 2018OCTS semester. Extrapolation and population synthesis shows that the Galactic plane survey should result in a further 5 discoveries.\r\n\r\nInteresting science can usually only be derived from a new pulsar after confirmation and a follow-up timing campaign is carried out. One year of initial timing is the minimum timespan required to fully characterise any newly-discovered pulsars, essential for deriving pulsar parameters such as the characteristic age, magnetic ?eld strength, spin-down rate, as well as to detect any unexpected behaviour of the pulsar which might result from emission instabilities.\r\n\r\nThis follow-up timing project is necessary for identifying any interesting pulsar systems discovered from the HTRU Galactic plane survey. Since all of the pulsars on the observing list here are being followed-up for the first time, they will produce completely new and exciting results. In addition, this timing project will enable a large-scale examination of the Galactic plane pulsar population, exploring the true boundaries of pulsar parameter space. Given the large number of discoveries expected and the long integration length required, this dedicated follow-up timing campaign is vital for achieving our science goals.

本申请旨在为HTRU巡天（HTRU survey）低银纬银道面子区域的脉冲星发现项目（P630）申请首次后续观测所需的望远镜观测时长。目前我们已依托周期搜索算法完成首轮数据处理的收尾阶段，共计发现106颗此前未被记录的脉冲星（pulsar）。我们预计全部处理工作将于2018OCTS观测学期内完成。通过外推与种群合成分析可知，本次银道面巡天还将额外发现5颗脉冲星。

通常而言，新发现的脉冲星仅在完成证认并开展后续计时观测项目后，才能产出具有科学价值的研究成果。对每一颗新发现脉冲星开展至少一年的初始计时观测，是完整表征其物理特性的最低时长要求——这一环节对获取脉冲星的特征年龄、磁场强度、自转减慢速率等参数，以及探测可能由辐射不稳定性引发的脉冲星异常行为均至关重要。

本次后续计时观测项目对于甄别HTRU银道面巡天中发现的各类具有科学价值的脉冲星系统而言必不可少。由于本次观测清单中的所有脉冲星均为首次开展后续观测，其研究结果将具备全新的突破性价值。此外，本计时观测项目将实现对银道面脉冲星种群的大规模普查，探索脉冲星参数空间的真实边界。考虑到预计发现的脉冲星数量众多且所需积分时长较长，本次专属后续计时观测项目对达成我们的科学目标而言至关重要。