Parkes observations for project P1153 semester 2022APRS_01

The ThunderKAT and MeerTRAP teams at the MeerKAT radio telescope have discovered a slow, pulsating radio source in the image and time domain data. We estimate a best fit period P = 75.88 s and period derivative Pdot = 2.9 x 10^-13 s/s. The source is seen to lie in the P-Pdot pulsar parameter phase space "death valley" where radio emission from neutron stars is not expected according to models in the literature. Single pulse analysis of MeerKAT data in the L- and UHF-bands reveals remarkable and unusual spectro-temporal properties, quite unlike anything seen in known radio neutron stars, with some pulses showing quasi-periodic sub-pulse components. We request 9 hours in the April 2022 semester to utilise the excellent ultra wide-band sensitivity of Parkes to study the pulse shape evolution and spectro-tempo-polarimetric properties of the source, probe the broadband nature and evolution of the sub-pulse components, and investigate any radius-to-frequency mapping, allowing us to characterise and/or distinguish it from other types of known neutron stars.

MeerKAT射电望远镜（MeerKAT radio telescope）的ThunderKAT与MeerTRAP团队在图像域及时域数据中发现了一颗慢速脉动射电源。我们通过最优拟合得到周期$P=75.88 ext{s}$，周期导数$dot{P}=2.9 imes10^{-13} ext{s/s}$。该源处于P-$dot{P}$脉冲星参数相空间的"死亡谷"区域，根据现有文献中的模型，中子星的射电辐射本不应出现在此区间内。对L波段与UHF波段的MeerKAT数据开展单脉冲分析后，我们观测到了显著且反常的谱时特性，这与已知射电中子星的观测特征截然不同，部分脉冲还呈现出准周期性亚脉冲成分。我们申请在2022年4月观测学期使用帕克斯望远镜（Parkes telescope）优异的超宽带灵敏度开展9小时观测，以研究该源的脉冲形状演化与谱-时-偏振特性，探究亚脉冲成分的宽带特性与演化过程，并排查是否存在半径-频率映射现象，从而实现对该源的特征刻画，并将其与其他类型已知中子星进行区分。