Speaker
Description
With their broad range of applications from performing exquisite tests of strong-field gravity to detecting ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves, pulsars are a key science driver for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Pulsar radio emission properties in the low-frequency band of the SKA (50-350 MHz) remain underexplored, yet are important for furthering our understanding of the detectable population of pulsars with the SKA and its pathfinders. Of particular interest are features such as a spectral flattening or turn-over that may occur at frequencies below 400 MHz, which will inform population studies and pulsar science planned with the low-frequency SKA (SKA-Low). In an effort to explore this, we have undertaken low-frequency studies of a modest sample of southern pulsars using the two precursor stations now operational at the Murchison site, where the SKA-Low will be built. The high-time resolution capabilities of these stations have been used to perform an initial census of the southern pulsar population, and observations were made at multiple spot frequencies across 70-350 MHz. Flux densities were measured using both the stations, and the spectra were modelled using robust fitting methods. Our analysis reveals low-frequency spectral features for a vast majority of pulsars, and for 16 pulsars we present updated spectral models. With a five-fold increase in sensitivity expected from the ongoing upgrade, it will become feasible to study a much larger sample of pulsars, the results from which will inform large-scale pulsar surveys planned with the SKA. This early demonstration of pulsar detection capabilities of SKA-Low stations suggests a promising future for low-frequency pulsar astronomy even in the early science phase of SKA-Low.
| Presentation length | 20 |
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