Parkes observations for project P1147 semester 2022APRS_02

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.

搜寻带有低质量伴星的食毫秒脉冲星（eclipsing millisecond pulsars）——这类天体又称黑寡妇脉冲星（black widow pulsars）——促成了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，仍是尚未解决的科学问题。这类伴星及其大气极有可能受到脉冲星辐照与脉冲星风的侵蚀剥离。本研究提议通过搜寻脉冲星背景下的吸收线乃至脉泽辐射，探测从伴星剥离的气体中的原子与分子组分，并同时通过塞曼分裂（Zeeman splitting）直接测量磁场强度。任何此类探测都将是一项重大发现，进而有助于约束脉冲星周围行星质量伴星的演化历史与形成机制。