Parkes observations for project P1038 semester 2020OCTS_20

PSR~J1759-2402 is one of a small handful of pulsars which are in orbit about high mass stars. Its orbital period is 8.3 years and the orbit is highly eccentric with periastron expected in 2021 March. Although discovered at Parkes, the Lovell telescope has been monitoring the pulsar over many years. However, it’s restricted bandwidth, maintenance schedule and poorer polarization capability make it unsuitable to follow the pulsar as it enters and leaves the eclipse by the companion. In contrast, the UWL on Parkes with its wide- band and excellent polarization characteristics means that we can determine scattering, polarization, dispersion measure and rotation measure changes as the pulsar enters its companion wind. We request a continuation of our weekly observations of the pulsar to track its progress around the orbit.

PSR J1759-2402是为数不多的环绕大质量恒星运行的脉冲星（pulsar）之一。其轨道周期为8.3年，轨道偏心率极高，预计近星点（periastron）将于2021年3月抵达。尽管该脉冲星是在帕克斯望远镜（Parkes）下被发现的，但洛弗尔望远镜（Lovell Telescope）已对其开展了多年监测。然而，洛弗尔望远镜受限的带宽、既定的维护计划，以及相对薄弱的偏振观测能力，使其无法适配该脉冲星穿过伴星掩食阶段的跟踪观测任务。与之形成鲜明对比的是，帕克斯望远镜搭载的UWL设备凭借超宽带宽与优异的偏振观测特性，可让我们精准测定脉冲星穿过伴星星风时的散射、偏振、色散量（dispersion measure）与旋转量（rotation measure）变化。我们申请继续对该脉冲星开展每周一次的观测，以追踪其沿轨道运行的完整过程。