18 research outputs found
MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array parallaxes and proper motions
We have determined positions, proper motions, and parallaxes of
millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from years of MeerKAT radio telescope
observations. Our timing and noise analyses enable us to measure
significant parallaxes ( of them for the first time) and significant
proper motions. Eight pulsars near the ecliptic have an accurate proper motion
in ecliptic longitude only. PSR~J09556150 has a good upper limit on its very
small proper motion (0.4 mas yr). We used pulsars with accurate
parallaxes to study the MSP velocities. This yields MSP transverse
velocities, and combined with MSPs in the literature (excluding those in
Globular Clusters) we analyse MSPs in total. We find that MSPs have, on
average, much lower velocities than normal pulsars, with a mean transverse
velocity of only km s (MSPs) compared with km s
(normal pulsars). We found no statistical differences between the velocity
distributions of isolated and binary millisecond pulsars. From Galactocentric
cylindrical velocities of the MSPs, we derive 3-D velocity dispersions of
, , = , , km
s. We measure a mean asymmetric drift with amplitude km
s, consistent with expectation for MSPs, given their velocity
dispersions and ages. The MSP velocity distribution is consistent with binary
evolution models that predict very few MSPs with velocities km s
and a mild anticorrelation of transverse velocity with orbital period
The MeerTime Pulsar Timing Array -- A Census of Emission Properties and Timing Potential
MeerTime is a five-year Large Survey Project to time pulsars with MeerKAT,
the 64-dish South African precursor to the Square Kilometre Array. The science
goals for the programme include timing millisecond pulsars (MSPs) to high
precision (< 1 s) to study the Galactic MSP population and to contribute
to global efforts to detect nanohertz gravitational waves with the
International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). In order to plan for the remainder of
the programme and to use the allocated time most efficiently, we have conducted
an initial census with the MeerKAT "L-band" receiver of 189 MSPs visible to
MeerKAT and here present their dispersion measures, polarization profiles,
polarization fractions, rotation measures, flux density measurements, spectral
indices, and timing potential. As all of these observations are taken with the
same instrument (which uses coherent dedispersion, interferometric polarization
calibration techniques, and a uniform flux scale), they present an excellent
resource for population studies. We used wideband pulse portraits as timing
standards for each MSP and demonstrated that the MeerTime Pulsar Timing Array
(MPTA) can already contribute significantly to the IPTA as it currently
achieves better than 1 s timing accuracy on 89 MSPs (observed with
fortnightly cadence). By the conclusion of the initial five-year MeerTime
programme in July 2024, the MPTA will be extremely significant in global
efforts to detect the gravitational wave background with a contribution to the
detection statistic comparable to other long-standing timing programmes.Comment: Accepted to PASA. 27 figures. Data to be made available under the DOI
10.5281/zenodo.5347875 at the time of publicatio
The MeerKAT telescope as a pulsar facility: System verification and early science results from MeerTime
We describe system verification tests and early science results from the pulsar processor (PTUSE) developed for the newly commissioned 64-dish SARAO MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. MeerKAT is a high-gain ( ) low-system temperature ( ) radio array that currently operates at 580â1 670 MHz and can produce tied-array beams suitable for pulsar observations. This paper presents results from the MeerTime Large Survey Project and commissioning tests with PTUSE. Highlights include observations of the double pulsar , pulse profiles from 34 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from a single 2.5-h observation of the Globular cluster Terzan 5, the rotation measure of Ter5O, a 420-sigma giant pulse from the Large Magellanic Cloud pulsar PSR , and nulling identified in the slow pulsar PSR J0633â2015. One of the key design specifications for MeerKAT was absolute timing errors of less than 5 ns using their novel precise time system. Our timing of two bright MSPs confirm that MeerKAT delivers exceptional timing. PSR exhibits a jitter limit of whilst timing of PSR over almost 11 months yields an rms residual of 66 ns with only 4 min integrations. Our results confirm that the MeerKAT is an exceptional pulsar telescope. The array can be split into four separate sub-arrays to time over 1 000 pulsars per day and the future deployment of S-band (1 750â3 500 MHz) receivers will further enhance its capabilities
The MeerTime Pulsar Timing Array: A census of emission properties and timing potential
International audienceMeerTime is a five-year Large Survey Project to time pulsars with MeerKAT, the 64-dish South African precursor to the Square Kilometre Array. The science goals for the programme include timing millisecond pulsar (MSPs) to high precision ( {<} 1 \unicode{x03BC} \mathrm{s} ) to study the Galactic MSP population and to contribute to global efforts to detect nanohertz gravitational waves with the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). In order to plan for the remainder of the programme and to use the allocated time most efficiently, we have conducted an initial census with the MeerKAT âL-bandâ receiver of 189 MSPs visible to MeerKAT and here present their dispersion measures, polarisation profiles, polarisation fractions, rotation measures, flux density measurements, spectral indices, and timing potential. As all of these observations are taken with the same instrument (which uses coherent dedispersion, interferometric polarisation calibration techniques, and a uniform flux scale), they present an excellent resource for population studies. We used wideband pulse portraits as timing standards for each MSP and demonstrated that the MeerTime Pulsar Timing Array (MPTA) can already contribute significantly to the IPTA as it currently achieves better than 1\,\unicode{x03BC}\mathrm{s} timing accuracy on 89 MSPs (observed with fortnightly cadence). By the conclusion of the initial five-year MeerTime programme in 2024 July, the MPTA will be extremely significant in global efforts to detect the gravitational wave background with a contribution to the detection statistic comparable to other long-standing timing programmes
The MeerTime Pulsar Timing Array - A Census of Emission Properties and Timing Potential
MeerTime is a five-year Large Survey Project to time pulsars with MeerKAT, the 64-dish South African precursor to the Square Kilometre Array. The science goals for the programme include timing millisecond pulsars (MSPs) to high precision (< 1 s) to study the Galactic MSP population and to contribute to global efforts to detect nanohertz gravitational waves with the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). In order to plan for the remainder of the programme and to use the allocated time most efficiently, we have conducted an initial census with the MeerKAT "L-band" receiver of 189 MSPs visible to MeerKAT and here present their dispersion measures, polarization profiles, polarization fractions, rotation measures, flux density measurements, spectral indices, and timing potential. As all of these observations are taken with the same instrument (which uses coherent dedispersion, interferometric polarization calibration techniques, and a uniform flux scale), they present an excellent resource for population studies. We used wideband pulse portraits as timing standards for each MSP and demonstrated that the MeerTime Pulsar Timing Array (MPTA) can already contribute significantly to the IPTA as it currently achieves better than 1 s timing accuracy on 89 MSPs (observed with fortnightly cadence). By the conclusion of the initial five-year MeerTime programme in July 2024, the MPTA will be extremely significant in global efforts to detect the gravitational wave background with a contribution to the detection statistic comparable to other long-standing timing programmes
The MeerTime Pulsar Timing Array - A Census of Emission Properties and Timing Potential
MeerTime is a five-year Large Survey Project to time pulsars with MeerKAT, the 64-dish South African precursor to the Square Kilometre Array. The science goals for the programme include timing millisecond pulsars (MSPs) to high precision (< 1 s) to study the Galactic MSP population and to contribute to global efforts to detect nanohertz gravitational waves with the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). In order to plan for the remainder of the programme and to use the allocated time most efficiently, we have conducted an initial census with the MeerKAT "L-band" receiver of 189 MSPs visible to MeerKAT and here present their dispersion measures, polarization profiles, polarization fractions, rotation measures, flux density measurements, spectral indices, and timing potential. As all of these observations are taken with the same instrument (which uses coherent dedispersion, interferometric polarization calibration techniques, and a uniform flux scale), they present an excellent resource for population studies. We used wideband pulse portraits as timing standards for each MSP and demonstrated that the MeerTime Pulsar Timing Array (MPTA) can already contribute significantly to the IPTA as it currently achieves better than 1 s timing accuracy on 89 MSPs (observed with fortnightly cadence). By the conclusion of the initial five-year MeerTime programme in July 2024, the MPTA will be extremely significant in global efforts to detect the gravitational wave background with a contribution to the detection statistic comparable to other long-standing timing programmes