Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/1718
Title: Arecibo pulsar survey using ALFA. I. survey strategy and first discoveries
Authors: Cordes, J.M.
Freire, P.C.C.
Lorimer, D.R.
Deshpande, A.A.
Ramachandran, R.
Keywords: Stars: Pulsars: General
pulsars: individual (PSR J0628+09)
pulsars: individual (PSR J1906+07)
pulsars: individual (PSR J1928+1746)
Surveys
Issue Date: 20-Jan-2006
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press for the American Astronomical Society
Citation: Astrophysical Journal, Vol.637, p446-455
Abstract: 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|<~5deg, in the accessible longitude ranges 32deg<~l<~77deg and 168deg<~l<~214deg. 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.
Description: Restricted Access. Articles older than 2 years are open to all at the journal site (alternative location). An open access version is available at arXiv.org.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/1718
ISSN: 0004-637X
1538-4357 (online)
Alternative Location: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?2006ApJ...637..446C
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0509732
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/498335
Copyright: (2006) by the American Astronomical Society.
Appears in Collections:Research Papers (A&A)

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
2006 ApJ637p446.pdf
  Restricted Access
Restricted Access2.11 MBAdobe PDFView/Open Request a copy


Items in RRI Digital Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.