Parkes observations for project P1147 semester 2022APRS_01

Searching for the eclipsing millisecond pulsars with low-mass companions, namely black widow pulsars, led to the discovery of the first exoplanet. The properties and formation scenarios of the planetary-mass companions around millisecond pulsars are still unsolved questions. The companions and their atmospheres are likely to be ablated by the irradiation and the pulsar wind. We propose to probe atomic and molecular compositions in the gas ablated from the companion by searching for absorption lines or even maser emission against pulsars and simultaneously measure the magnetic field strengths directly through Zeeman splitting. Any detection would be a major discovery and thus help constrain the evolutionary history and the formation scenarios of planetary-mass companions of pulsars.

搜寻拥有低质量伴星的食毫秒脉冲星（eclipsing millisecond pulsars）——即黑寡妇脉冲星（black widow pulsars）——的工作，促成了人类首颗系外行星的发现。毫秒脉冲星周围行星质量伴星的性质与形成机制，至今仍是尚未解决的科学问题。这类伴星及其大气很可能会因脉冲星的辐射与星风照射而被剥离。本研究拟通过搜寻脉冲星背景下的吸收谱线乃至脉泽辐射，探测伴星被剥离气体中的原子与分子组成，并同时通过塞曼分裂（Zeeman splitting）直接测量磁场强度。任何此类探测结果都将是一项重大发现，进而有助于限定脉冲星周围行星质量伴星的演化历史与形成机制。