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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA. I. Survey strategy and first discoveries
Astrophysical Journal, Volume 637, No. 1 I, Year 2006
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Description
We report results from the initial stage of a long-term pulsar survey of the Galactic plane using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), a seven-beam receiver operating at 1.4 GHz with 0.3 GHz bandwidth, and fast-dump digital spectrometers. The search targets low Galactic latitudes, |b\ ≤ 5°, in the accessible longitude ranges 32° ≤ l ≤ 77° and 168° ≤ l ≤ 214°. The instrumentation, data processing, initial survey observations, sensitivity, and database management are described. Data discussed here were collected over a 100 MHz passband centered on 1.42 GHz using a spectrometer that recorded 256 channels every 64 μs. Analysis of the data with their full time and frequency resolutions is ongoing. Here we report the results of a preliminary, low-resolution analysis for which the data were decimated to speed up the processing. We have detected 29 previously known pulsars and discovered 11 new ones. One of these, PSR J1928+1746, with a period of 69 ms and a relatively low characteristic age of 82 kyr, is a plausible candidate for association with the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1928+1733. Another, PSR J1906+07, is a nonrecycled pulsar in a relativistic binary with an orbital period of 3.98 hr. In parallel with the periodicity analysis, we also search the data for isolated dispersed pulses. This technique has resulted in the discovery of PSR J0628+09, an extremely sporadic radio emitter with a spin period of 1.2 s. Simulations we have carried out indicate that ∼1000 new pulsars will be found in our ALFA survey. In addition to providing a large sample for use in population analyses and for probing the magnetoionic interstellar medium, the survey maximizes the chances of finding rapidly spinning millisecond pulsars and pulsars in compact binary systems. Our search algorithms exploit the multiple data streams from ALFA to discriminate between radio frequency interference and celestial signals, including pulsars and possibly new classes of transient radio sources. © 2006. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Cordes, James M.
United States, Ithaca
Cornell University
Freire, Paulo C.C.
Puerto Rico, Arecibo
National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center Arecibo Observatory
Lorimer, Duncan R.
United Kingdom, Manchester
The University of Manchester
Camilo, Fernando
United States, New York
Columbia University
Champion, David J.
United Kingdom, Manchester
The University of Manchester
Nice, David J.
United States, Princeton
Princeton University
Hessels, Jason W.T.
Canada, Montreal
Université Mcgill
Vlemmings, Wouter H.T.
United States, Ithaca
Cornell University
van Leeuwen, Joeri
Canada, Vancouver
The University of British Columbia
Ransom, Scott M.
United States, Charlottesville
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Bhat, N. D. R.
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Arzoumanian, Zaven
United States, Greenbelt
Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center
McLaughlin, Maura Ann
United Kingdom, Manchester
The University of Manchester
Kaspi, Victoria M.
Canada, Montreal
Université Mcgill
Deneva, Julia S.
United States, Ithaca
Cornell University
Reid, Beth Ann
United States, Princeton
Princeton University
Chatterjee, S.
United States, Cambridge
Harvard-smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Han, Jinlin
China, Beijing
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Backer, Donald C.
United States, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
Stairs, Ingrid H.
Canada, Vancouver
The University of British Columbia
Deshpande, Avinash A.
Puerto Rico, Arecibo
National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center Arecibo Observatory
Faucher-Giguère, Claude André
Canada, Montreal
Université Mcgill
Statistics
Citations: 209
Authors: 22
Affiliations: 13
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1086/498335
ISSN:
0004637X
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Quantitative