155 research outputs found
Temporal Evolution of the Vela Pulsar's Pulse Profile
The mechanisms of emission and changes in rotation frequency ('glitching') of
the Vela pulsar (J0835-4510) are not well understood. Further insight into
these mechanisms can be achieved by long-term studies of integrated pulse
width, timing residuals, and bright pulse rates. We have undertaken an
intensive observing campaign of Vela and collected over 6000 hours of single
pulse data. The data shows that the pulse width changes with time, including
marked jumps in width after micro-glitches (frequency changes). The abundance
of bright pulses also changes after some micro-glitches, but not all. The
secular changes in pulse width have three possible cyclic periods, that match
with X-ray periodicities of a helical jet that are interpreted as free
precession.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Radio polarization measurements from RRAT J1819-1458
We present the first polarization measurements of the radio emission from
RRAT J18191458. Our observations, conducted in parallel to regular timing
sessions, have yielded a small number of bright and polarized pulses. The
polarization characteristics and integrated profile resemble those of normal
pulsars with average spin-down energy (Edot): moderate to low linear
polarization in the integrated profile despite relatively high polarization in
the individual pulses. On average, a small degree of circular polarization is
also observed. The polarization position angle executes a remarkably smooth,
steep S-shaped curve, interrupted by two orthogonal jumps. Based on the shape
of the PA swing, we place some constraints on the emission geometry. We compare
these polarization properties to those of other radio emitting neutron star
populations, including young pulsars, pulsars with a high surface magnetic
field and radio emitting magnetars. From the polarization measurements, the
Faraday rotation measure of this RRAT is derived.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS letter
Self-consistency of relativistic observables with general relativity in the white dwarf-neutron star binary pulsar PSR J1141-6545
Here we report timing measurements of the relativistic binary pulsar PSR
J1141-6545 that constrain the component masses and demonstrate that the orbital
period derivative \dot Pb = (-4+/-1)x10^-13 is consistent with gravitational
wave emission as described by the general theory of relativity. The mass of the
neutron star and its companion are 1.30+/-0.02 Mo and 0.986+/-0.020 Mo
respectively, suggesting a white dwarf companion, and extending the range of
systems for which general relativity provides a correct description. On
evolutionary grounds, the progenitor mass of PSR J1141-6545 should be near the
minimum for neutron star production. Its mass is two standard deviations below
the mean of the other neutron stars, suggesting a relationship between
progenitor and remnant masses.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, revised version to Ap J Letter
Timing stability of millisecond pulsars and prospects for gravitational-wave detection
Analysis of high-precision timing observations of an array of approx. 20
millisecond pulsars (a so-called "timing array") may ultimately result in the
detection of a stochastic gravitational-wave background. The feasibility of
such a detection and the required duration of this type of experiment are
determined by the achievable rms of the timing residuals and the timing
stability of the pulsars involved. We present results of the first long-term,
high-precision timing campaign on a large sample of millisecond pulsars used in
gravitational-wave detection projects. We show that the timing residuals of
most pulsars in our sample do not contain significant low-frequency noise that
could limit the use of these pulsars for decade-long gravitational-wave
detection efforts. For our most precisely timed pulsars, intrinsic
instabilities of the pulsars or the observing system are shown to contribute to
timing irregularities on a five-year timescale below the 100 ns level. Based on
those results, realistic sensitivity curves for planned and ongoing timing
array efforts are determined. We conclude that prospects for detection of a
gravitational-wave background through pulsar timing array efforts within five
years to a decade are good.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, submitted to MNRA
The Performance and Calibration of the CRAFT Fly's Eye Fast Radio Burst Survey
Since January 2017, the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients survey
(CRAFT) has been utilising commissioning antennas of the Australian SKA
Pathfinder (ASKAP) to survey for fast radio bursts (FRBs) in fly's eye mode.
This is the first extensive astronomical survey using phased array feeds
(PAFs), and a total of 20 FRBs have been reported. Here we present a
calculation of the sensitivity and total exposure of this survey, using the
pulsars B1641-45 (J1644-4559) and B0833-45 (J0835-4510, i.e.\ Vela) as
calibrators. The design of the survey allows us to benchmark effects due to PAF
beamshape, antenna-dependent system noise, radio-frequency interference, and
fluctuations during commissioning on timescales from one hour to a year.
Observation time, solid-angle, and search efficiency are calculated as a
function of FRB fluence threshold. Using this metric, effective survey
exposures and sensitivities are calculated as a function of the source counts
distribution. The implied FRB rate is significantly lower than the
\,sky\,day calculated using nominal exposures and
sensitivities for this same sample by \citet{craft_nature}. At the Euclidean
power-law index of , the rate is \,sky\,day above a threshold of \,Jy\,ms, while for the best-fit index for this sample of , it is
\,sky\,day above a threshold of \,Jy\,ms. This strongly suggests that these calculations be performed
for other FRB-hunting experiments, allowing meaningful comparisons to be made
between them.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in PAS
The first VLBI image of an Infrared-Faint Radio Source
Context: To investigate the joint evolution of active galactic nuclei and
star formation in the Universe. Aims: In the 1.4 GHz survey with the Australia
Telescope Compact Array of the Chandra Deep Field South and the European Large
Area ISO Survey - S1 we have identified a class of objects which are strong in
the radio but have no detectable infrared and optical counterparts. This class
has been called Infrared-Faint Radio Sources, or IFRS. 53 sources out of 2002
have been classified as IFRS. It is not known what these objects are. Methods:
To address the many possible explanations as to what the nature of these
objects is we have observed four sources with the Australian Long Baseline
Array. Results: We have detected and imaged one of the four sources observed.
Assuming that the source is at a high redshift, we find its properties in
agreement with properties of Compact Steep Spectrum sources. However, due to
the lack of optical and infrared data the constraints are not particularly
strong.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 5 pages,
needs aa.cl
Discovery of Five Recycled Pulsars in a High Galactic Latitude Survey
We present five recycled pulsars discovered during a 21-cm survey of
approximately 4,150 deg^2 between 15 deg and 30 deg from the galactic plane
using the Parkes radio telescope. One new pulsar, PSR J1528-3146, has a 61 ms
spin period and a massive white dwarf companion. Like many recycled pulsars
with heavy companions, the orbital eccentricity is relatively high (~0.0002),
consistent with evolutionary models that predict less time for circularization.
The four remaining pulsars have short spin periods (3 ms < P < 6 ms); three of
these have probable white dwarf binary companions and one (PSR J2010-1323) is
isolated. PSR J1600-3053 is relatively bright for its dispersion measure of
52.3 pc cm^-3 and promises good timing precision thanks to an intrinsically
narrow feature in its pulse profile, resolvable through coherent dedispersion.
In this survey, the recycled pulsar discovery rate was one per four days of
telescope time or one per 600 deg^2 of sky. The variability of these sources
implies that there are more millisecond pulsars that might be found by
repeating this survey.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
High-velocity OH megamasers in IRAS 20100-4156: Evidence for a Supermassive Black Hole
We report the discovery of new, high-velocity narrow-line components of the
OH megamaser in IRAS 20100-4156. Results from the Australian Square Kilometre
Array Pathfinder (ASKAP)'s Boolardy Engineering Test Array (BETA) and the
Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) provide two independent measurements
of the OH megamaser spectrum. We found evidence for OH megamaser clumps at
409 and 562 km/s (blue-shifted) from the systemic velocity of the galaxy,
in addition to the lines previously known. The presence of such high velocities
in the molecular emission from IRAS 201004156 could be explained by a ~50 pc
molecular ring enclosing an approximately 3.8 billion solar mass black hole. We
also discuss two alternatives, i.e. that the narrow-line masers are dynamically
coupled to the wind driven by the active galactic nucleus or they are
associated with two separate galactic nuclei. The comparison between the BETA
and ATCA spectra provides another scientific verification of ASKAP's BETA. Our
data, combined with previous measurements of the source enabled us to study the
variability of the source over a twenty-six year period. The flux density of
the brightest OH maser components has reduced by more than a factor of two
between 1988 and 2015, whereas a secondary narrow-line component has more than
doubled in the same time. Plans for high-resolution VLBI follow-up of this
source are discussed, as are prospects for discovering new OH megamasers during
the ASKAP early science program.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS. Seven pages, three figure
Rotation measure variations for 20 millisecond pulsars
We report on variations in the mean position angle of the 20 millisecond
pulsars being observed as part of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA)
project. It is found that the observed variations are dominated by changes in
the Faraday rotation occurring in the Earth's ionosphere. Two ionospheric
models are used to correct for the ionospheric contribution and it is found
that one based on the International Reference Ionosphere gave the best results.
Little or no significant long-term variation in interstellar RM was found with
limits typically about 0.1 rad m yr in absolute value. In a few
cases, apparently significant RM variations over timescales of a few 100 days
or more were seen. These are unlikely to be due to localised magnetised regions
crossing the line of sight since the implied magnetic fields are too high. Most
probably they are statistical fluctuations due to random spatial and temporal
variations in the interstellar electron density and magnetic field along the
line of sight.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
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