Parkes observations for project P1069 semester 2020APRS_06

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）射电望远镜后续观测。依托ASKAP望远镜完成的该项巡天，是南半球首个成像域全天脉冲星巡天项目。研究团队共筛选出8个候选源，筛选依据包括：（1）极高的圆偏振占比；（2）无对应光学天体；（3）存在显著光变特性——该特性可能意味着强烈的星际闪烁，若为双星系统则可能是伴星掩食现象；（4）此前的脉冲星巡天未探测到这些亮度相对较高的源，这暗示该类候选体具有极端物理特性。本研究拟采用超高时间与频率分辨率的UWL靶向搜索方案，此类观测将支持我们对自旋周期极短或处于密近双星系统中的脉冲星开展深度搜寻。