Parkes observations for project P860 semester 2018OCTS_10

Brief description

This is a request for observing time for the initial follow-up of pulsar discoveries from the low-latitude Galactic plane section of the HTRU survey (P630). We are in the final stages of our first pass processing with our periodicity search algorithm, and have already discovered 106 previously unknown pulsars. We expect that processing should be complete within the 2018OCTS semester. Extrapolation and population synthesis shows that the Galactic plane survey should result in a further 5 discoveries.

Interesting science can usually only be derived from a new pulsar after confirmation and a follow-up timing campaign is carried out. One year of initial timing is the minimum timespan required to fully characterise any newly-discovered pulsars, essential for deriving pulsar parameters such as the characteristic age, magnetic ?eld strength, spin-down rate, as well as to detect any unexpected behaviour of the pulsar which might result from emission instabilities.

This follow-up timing project is necessary for identifying any interesting pulsar systems discovered from the HTRU Galactic plane survey. Since all of the pulsars on the observing list here are being followed-up for the first time, they will produce completely new and exciting results. In addition, this timing project will enable a large-scale examination of the Galactic plane pulsar population, exploring the true boundaries of pulsar parameter space. Given the large number of discoveries expected and the long integration length required, this dedicated follow-up timing campaign is vital for achieving our science goals.