Parkes observations for project P1337 semester 2024OCTS_04

Full description

For spider pulsars, the companion is evaporated by the pulsar winds and high-energy emissions, causing material to be blown from the companion, which can result in radio eclipses. Radio observations of these eclipses are key to understanding the properties of the eclipse medium. In this proposal, we aim to study the eclipse phenomena of spider pulsars using the UWL receiver at the Parkes telescope. We have three goals: (a) measure the duration of eclipse across a wide bandwidth. We will study the frequency dependence of the eclipse and analyze the eclipse mechanisms at different observational frequencies, (b) study the depolarization of linear polarization. The depolarization of spider pulsars is proposed to be caused by multipath propagation, where the degree of depolarization is expected to be proportional to $\\exp(f^{-4})$. The UWL observations will allow us to examine this method across a wide bandwidth for the first time, (c) measure dispersion measure (DM) variation at the eclipse boundary. The UWL observations will enable us to measure the DM variation more accurately at the eclipse boundary. This will allow us to estimate the mass loss rate of the companion, providing a timescale over which the companion will be completely destroyed.