Parkes observations for project P883 semester 2015APRS

Time-resolved astronomical surveys have unveiled some of the most extreme and exciting astrophysical processes known. At radio wavelengths, in the aftermaths of massive stellar explosions, cosmic fireballs suddenly appear and over months to years fade away. On millisecond timescales, Fast Radio Bursts of Jansky intensities are emitted at apparently cosmological distances, likely tied to cataclysmic events involving compact objects. Locally, stars from M-dwarfs to pulsars in our own Galaxy intermittently produce burps of emission. Exploiting the unique high time resolution capabilities and broad-band coverage of the Parkes telescope, we request 528 hours to search for transients on a wide range of timescales. We will use on-the-fly mapping and the dual-band 10cm/50cm system to simultaneously conduct the following surveys: (1) PARTY-FAST - a search for fast radio transients at 50 cm that will be of comparable efficiency to those currently conducted at 20 cm; and (2) PARTY-SLOW - a search for slow radio transients primarily conducted at 10cm. As a byproduct of PARTY-SLOW, we will also produce high-fidelity full-polarisation continuum maps at both frequencies (PARTY-MAP) of two 10 square degree fields of significant astrophysical interest. The PARTY survey will expand the population of known transient sources, answer key questions on the emission of Fast Radio Bursts, and will explore new territory in the radio transient parameter space.

时间分辨天文巡天已揭示了已知宇宙中最极端、最引人瞩目的天体物理过程。在射电波段，大质量恒星爆发后的余迹中，宇宙火球会突然出现，并在数月至数年的时间尺度内逐渐消散。在毫秒级时间尺度上，射电流量达央斯基（Jansky）量级的快速射电暴（Fast Radio Bursts）会在看似处于宇宙学距离的位置产生，这类暴发现象大概率与涉及致密天体的灾变事件相关。在银河系本地，从M型矮星到脉冲星的各类天体都会间歇性地产生射电爆发。依托帕克斯（Parkes）望远镜独有的高时间分辨率能力与宽频覆盖特性，我们申请528小时观测时长，以在宽泛的时间尺度范围内搜寻暂现源。我们将采用随航扫描测绘（on-the-fly mapping）技术，并依托10厘米/50厘米双波段观测系统，同步开展以下两项巡天项目：(1) PARTY-FAST：在50厘米波段开展快速射电暂现源搜寻，其观测效率可与当前20厘米波段的同类巡天相媲美；(2) PARTY-SLOW：以10厘米波段为主要观测频段，搜寻慢速射电暂现源。作为PARTY-SLOW巡天的附带产出，我们还将为两个具有重要天体物理研究价值的10平方度天区，制作两个波段下的高保真全偏振连续谱图谱（PARTY-MAP）。本次PARTY巡天将扩充已知暂现源的样本数量，解答快速射电暴辐射机制相关的核心科学问题，并开拓射电暂现源参数空间的全新研究领域。