We have timed four millisecond pulses, PSRs J1721-2457, J1745–0952, J1810–2005, and J1918–0642, for up to a total of 10.5 years each using multiple telescopes in the European Pulsar Timing Array ...network: the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in The Netherlands, the Nançay Radio Telescope in France and the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank in the UK. The long time span has enabled us to measure the proper motions of J1745–0952 and J1918–0642, indicating that they have transverse velocities of 200(50) and 54(7) km s-1 respectively. We have obtained upper limits on the proper motion of J1721–2457 and J1810–2005, which imply that they have transverse velocities less than 140 and 400 km s-1 respectively. In all cases, the velocities lie in the range typical of millisecond pulsars. We present pulse profiles for each pulsar taken from observations at multiple frequencies in the range of 350 to 2600 MHz, and show that J1810–2005 shows significant profile evolution in this range. Using our multi-frequency observations, we measured the spectral indices for all four pulsars, and for J1810–2005 it appears to be very flat. The flux density of J1918–0642 shows extensive modulation which we attribute to the combined effects of refractive and diffractive scintillation. We discuss the possible use of including J1721–2457 or J1918–0642 in a pulsar timing array, and find that J1918–0642 will be useful to include when the timing precision of this pulsar is improved over the next few years. We have searched archival optical observations to detect companions of the binary pulsars, but none were detected. However, we provide lower limits on the masses of the white dwarf companions of PSRs J1745–0952 and J1918–0642.
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Context. Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) represent nearly half of the more than 160 currently known γ-ray pulsars detected by the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi satellite, and a third of all known MSPs ...are seen in γ rays. The least energetic γ-ray MSPs enable us to probe the so-called deathline for high-energy emission, i.e., the spin-down luminosity limit under which pulsars (PSRs) cease to produce detectable high-energy radiation. Characterizing the MSP luminosity distribution helps to determine their contribution to the Galactic diffuse γ-ray emission. Aims. Because of the Shklovskii effect, precise proper motion and distance measurements are key ingredients for determining the spin-down luminosities of MSPs accurately. Our aim is to obtain new measurements of these parameters for γ-ray MSPs when possible, and clarify the relationship between the γ-ray luminosity of pulsars and their spin-down luminosity. Detecting low spin-down luminosity pulsars in γ rays and characterizing their spin properties is also particularly interesting for constraining the deathline for high-energy emission. Methods. We made use of the high-quality pulsar timing data recorded at the Nançay Radio Telescope over several years to characterize the properties of a selection of MSPs. For one of the pulsars, the dataset was complemented with Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope observations. The rotation ephemerides derived from this analysis were also used to search the LAT data for new γ-ray MSPs. Results. For the MSPs considered in this study, we obtained new transverse proper motion measurements or updated the existing ones, and placed new distance constraints for some of them, with four new timing parallax measurements. We discovered significant GeV γ-ray signals from four MSPs, i.e., PSRs J0740+6620, J0931−1902, J1455−3330, and J1730−2304. The latter is now the least energetic γ-ray pulsar found to date. Despite the improved Ė and Lγ estimates, the relationship between these two quantities remains unclear, especially at low Ė values.
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This paper presents 586 new 21-cm neutral hydrogen line measurements carried out with the FORT receiver of the meridian transit Nancay radiotelescope in the period July 2000-March 2003. This ...observational programme is part of a larger project aiming at collecting an exhaustive and magnitude-complete HI extragalactic catalogue for Tully-Fisher applications. It is associated with the building of the MIGALE spectroscopic archive and database.
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ABSTRACT
We present results from the search for a stochastic gravitational-wave background (GWB) as predicted by the theory of General Relativity using six radio millisecond pulsars from the Data ...Release 2 (DR2) of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) covering a timespan up to 24 yr. A GWB manifests itself as a long-term low-frequency stochastic signal common to all pulsars, a common red signal (CRS), with the characteristic Hellings-Downs (HD) spatial correlation. Our analysis is performed with two independent pipelines, ENTERPRISE, and TEMPONEST+FORTYTWO, which produce consistent results. A search for a CRS with simultaneous estimation of its spatial correlations yields spectral properties compatible with theoretical GWB predictions, but does not result in the required measurement of the HD correlation, as required for GWB detection. Further Bayesian model comparison between different types of CRSs, including a GWB, finds the most favoured model to be the common uncorrelated red noise described by a power law with $A = 5.13_{-2.73}^{+4.20} \times 10^{-15}$ and $\gamma = 3.78_{-0.59}^{+0.69}$ (95 per cent credible regions). Fixing the spectral index to γ = 13/3 as expected from the GWB by circular, inspiralling supermassive black hole binaries results in an amplitude of $A =2.95_{-0.72}^{+0.89} \times 10^{-15}$. We implement three different models, BAYESEPHEM, LINIMOSS, and EPHEMGP, to address possible Solar system ephemeris (SSE) systematics and conclude that our results may only marginally depend on these effects. This work builds on the methods and models from the studies on the EPTA DR1. We show that under the same analysis framework the results remain consistent after the data set extension.
Context.
Accurate polarimetric calibration of the radio pulse profiles from pulsars is crucial for studying their radiation properties at these wavelengths. Additionally, inaccurate calibration can ...distort recorded pulse profiles, introducing noise in time of arrival (TOA) data and thus degrading pulsar timing analyses. One method for determining the full polarimetric response of a given telescope is to conduct observations of bright polarized pulsars over wide ranges of parallactic angles, to sample different orientations of their polarization angle and in turn determine the cross-couplings between polarization feeds.
Aims.
The Nançay decimetric Radio Telescope (NRT) is a 94 m equivalent meridian telescope, capable of tracking a given pulsar for approximately 1 h around transit. The NRT therefore cannot sample wide ranges of parallactic angles when observing a given pulsar, so until late 2019 the polarimetric calibration of 1.4 GHz pulsar observations with the NRT was rudimentary. We therefore aimed to develop a method for improving the calibration of NRT observations, overcoming the above-mentioned limitation. Ultimately, our goal was to improve the quality of NRT pulsar timing, with better calibrated pulsar pulse profiles.
Methods.
In November 2019, we began conducting regular observations of the bright and highly linearly polarized pulsar PSR J0742−2822, in a special observing mode in which the feed horn rotates by ~180° over the course of the 1 h observation, mimicking wide parallactic angle variations and in principle enabling us to determine the polarimetric response of the NRT at 1.4 GHz. In addition, we assessed the quality of the NRT timing of a selection of millisecond pulsars (MSPs), namely, J1730−2304, J1744−1134, and J1857+0953, with conventional TOAs extracted from total intensity pulse profiles, and TOAs extracted with the Matrix Template Matching (MTM) technique, designed to compensate for putative polarimetric calibration errors.
Results.
From the analysis of the rotating horn observations of PSR J0742−2822 we could determine the cross-couplings between the polarization feeds and also constrain the Stokes parameters of the noise diode signal, which prior to this work was erroneously assumed to be ideal and was used as the only reference source for the calibration of pulsar observations. The improved polarimetric response of the NRT as determined from these observations was applied to observations of a selection of MSPs with published polarimetric properties. We find that the new polarimetric profiles and polarization position angles are consistent with previous findings, unlike NRT polarimetric results obtained with the previously used method of calibration. The analysis of the timing data shows that the new calibration method improves the quality of the timing, and the MTM method proves very effective at reducing noise from imperfect calibration. For pulsars with sufficient degrees of polarization, the MTM method appears to be the preferred method of extracting TOAs from NRT observations.
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Context.
The large number of ongoing surveys for pulsars and transients at various radio observatories is motivated by the science obtained from these sources. Timing and polarisation analysis of ...relativistic binaries can place strong constraints on theories of gravity. The observation of a growing number of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) spread over the celestial sphere may allow the detection of a stochastic gravitational wave background arising from supermassive black hole binaries. A more complete sample of young pulsars improves our knowledge of neutron star birth and evolution. Transients such as fast radio bursts can serve to probe the intergalactic medium.
Aims.
The SPAN512 pulsar survey covers intermediate Galactic latitudes using the
L
-band receiver of the Nançay Radio Telescope (NRT). The survey covers 224 sq. deg. of the sky for a total exposure time of 2200 h. Population syntheses predict the discovery of 3 to 19 new normal pulsars and a few MSPs.
Methods.
We present detailed modelling of the NRT beam with its
L
-band receiver and its sensitivity which we used to precisely assess the expected survey yield. We used the flexible Pulsar Arecibo
L
-band Feed Array data processing pipeline to search the 47 TB of SPAN512 data for pulsars and transients.
Results.
The SPAN512 survey discovered two new MSPs and one new middle-aged pulsar. We focus on the analysis of the 2.4-ms spin period pulsar J2205+6012 for which we also report the detection of gamma-ray pulsations. Its narrow pulse width (35µs at an observing frequency of 2.55 GHz) allows for sub-microsecond timing precision over 8 yr, with exciting prospects for pulsar timing array programs.
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Aims. We attempt to determine the optical depth of spiral galaxy disks by a statistical study of new Tully-Fisher data from the ongoing KLUN+ survey, and to clarify the difference between the true ...and apparent behavior of optical depth. Methods. By utilizing so-called normalized distances, a subsample of the data is identified to be as free from selection effects as possible. For these galaxies, a set of apparent quantities are calculated for face-on positions using the Tully-Fisher diameter and magnitude relations. These values are compared with direct observations to determine the mean value of the parameter C describing the optical depth. Results. The present study suggests that spiral galaxy disks are relatively optically thin $\tau_{{B}} \approx$ 0.1, at least in the outermost regions, while they appear in general to be optically thick $\tau_{\mathrm{B}}$ > 1 when the apparent magnitude and average surface brightness are studied statistically.
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PSR J2222−0137 Guo, Y. J.; Freire, P. C. C.; Guillemot, L. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
10/2021, Volume:
654
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context.
The PSR J2222−0137 binary system has a set of features that make it a unique laboratory for tests of gravity theories.
Aims.
To fully exploit the system’s potential for these tests, we aim ...to improve the measurements of its physical parameters, spin and orbital orientation, and post-Keplerian parameters, which quantify the observed relativistic effects.
Methods.
We describe an improved analysis of archival very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data, which uses a coordinate convention in full agreement with that used in timing. We have also obtained much improved polarimetry of the pulsar with the Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). We provide an improved analysis of significantly extended timing datasets taken with the Effelsberg, Nançay, and Lovell radio telescopes; this also includes previous timing data from the Green Bank Telescope.
Results.
From the VLBI analysis, we have obtained a new estimate of the position angle of the ascending node, Ω = 189
−18
+19
deg (all uncertainties are 68% confidence limits), and a new reference position for the pulsar with an improved and more conservative uncertainty estimate. The FAST polarimetric results, and in particular the detection of an interpulse, yield much improved estimates for the spin geometry of the pulsar, in particular an inclination of the spin axis of the pulsar of ∼84 deg. From the timing, we obtain a new ∼1% test of general relativity (GR) from the agreement of the Shapiro delay parameters and the rate of advance of periastron. Assuming GR in a self-consistent analysis of all effects, we obtain much improved masses: 1.831(10)
M
⊙
for the pulsar and 1.319(4)
M
⊙
for the white dwarf companion; the total mass, 3.150(14)
M
⊙
, confirms this as the most massive double degenerate binary known in the Galaxy. This analysis also yields the orbital orientation; in particular, the orbital inclination is 85.27(4) deg – indicating a close alignment between the spin of the pulsar and the orbital angular momentum – and Ω = 187.7(5.7) deg, which matches our new VLBI estimate. Finally, the timing also yields a precise measurement of the variation in the orbital period,
Ṗ
b
= 0.251(8) × 10
−12
ss
−1
; this is consistent with the expected variation in the Doppler factor plus the orbital decay caused by the emission of gravitational waves predicted by GR. This agreement introduces stringent constraints on the emission of dipolar gravitational waves.
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Pulsar timing arrays offer a probe of the low-frequency gravitational wave spectrum (1–100 nHz), which is intimately connected to a number of markers that can uniquely trace the formation and ...evolution of the Universe. We present the dataset and the results of the timing analysis from the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA). The dataset contains high-precision pulsar timing data from 25 millisecond pulsars collected with the five largest radio telescopes in Europe, as well as the Large European Array for Pulsars. The dataset forms the foundation for the search for gravitational waves by the EPTA, presented in associated papers. We describe the dataset and present the results of the frequentist and Bayesian pulsar timing analysis for individual millisecond pulsars that have been observed over the last ~25 yr. We discuss the improvements to the individual pulsar parameter estimates, as well as new measurements of the physical properties of these pulsars and their companions. This data release extends the dataset from EPTA Data Release 1 up to the beginning of 2021, with individual pulsar datasets with timespans ranging from 14 to 25 yr. These lead to improved constraints on annual parallaxes, secular variation of the orbital period, and Shapiro delay for a number of sources. Based on these results, we derived astrophysical parameters that include distances, transverse velocities, binary pulsar masses, and annual orbital parallaxes.
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