Parkes observations for project P875 semester 2014OCTS

Full description

In this proposal we aim to measure the flux densities of about 500 pulsars in a systematic way. Doing this we will vastly improve upon the current spectral knowledge of the pulsar population and provide around 1000 new measurements at 732 and 3100 MHz for about a quarter of the currently known pulsars. This is extremely important both for pulsar population studies, in particular for determining the spectral index of the radio emission, investigations of the pulsar emission mechanism and for optimizing observing strategies for next generation telescopes, such as the SKA. This proposal also acts as preparatory work for the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope, which we are refurbishing at the moment. This work will help us constrain the flux density expected at the centre frequency of Molonglo, at 843 MHz. We will also use the new data from Parkes to check and update the ephemerides of all the selected pulsars in order to have a database that is as up to date as possible before observations with Molonglo commence. We will also investigate the averaged pulse profiles and how they change with frequency.