Searching for pulsars associated with polarised point sources using LOFAR: Initial discoveries from the TULIPP project
Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 661, pp. A87
Abstract
Discovering radio pulsars, particularly millisecond pulsars (MSPs), is important for a range of astrophysical applications, such as testing theories of gravity or probing the magneto-ionic interstellar medium. We aim to discover pulsars that may have been missed in previous pulsar searches by leveraging known pulsar observables (primarily polarisation) in the sensitive, low-frequency radio images from the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS), and have commenced the Targeted search, using LoTSS images, for polarised pulsars (TULIPP) survey. For this survey, we identified linearly and circularly polarised point sources with flux densities brighter than 2 mJy in LoTSS images at a centre frequency of 144 MHz with a 48 MHz bandwidth. Over 40 known pulsars, half of which are MSPs, were detected as polarised sources in the LoTSS images and excluded from the survey. We have obtained beam-formed LOFAR observations of 30 candidates, which were searched for pulsations using coherent de-dispersion. Here, we present the results of the first year of the TULIPP survey. We discovered two pulsars, PSRs J1049+5822 and J1602+3901, with rotational periods ofP = 0.73 s and 3.7 ms, respectively. We also detected a further five known pulsars (two slowly-rotating pulsars and three MSPs) for which accurate sky positions were not available to allow a unique cross-match with LoTSS sources. This targeted survey presents a relatively efficient method by which pulsars, particularly MSPs, may be discovered using the flexible observing modes of sensitive radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array and its pathfinders/precursors, particularly since wide-area all-sky surveys using coherent de-dispersion are currently computationally infeasible.
Authors 17
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Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Affiliation as printed
CSIRO Space and Astronomy, PO Box 1130, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
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Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
School of Physical Sciences and Centre for Astrophysics & Relativity, Dublin City University, D09 W6Y4 Glasnevin, Ireland
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory · Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
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Trottier Space Institute at McGill · McGill University
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 rue University, Montréal, QC H3A 2T8, Canada
McGill Space Institute, McGill University, 3550 rue University, Montréal, QC H3A 2A7, Canada
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University of Amsterdam · Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences · Russian Academy of Sciences · Astro Space Center · Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
Astro Space Centre, Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya Str. 84/32, Moscow 117997, Russia
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Affiliation as printed
Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
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Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
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Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Affiliation as printed
CSIRO Space and Astronomy, PO Box 1130, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory · Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
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University of Groningen · Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Affiliation as printed
ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Postbus 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
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Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna
Affiliation as printed
INAF Istituto di Radioastronomia, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
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Université d'Orléans · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Observatoire de Paris · Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers · Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’Espace · Observatoire Radioastronomique de Nançay
Affiliation as printed
LPC2E – Université d’Orléans / CNRS, France
Station de Radioastronomie de Nançay, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS/INSU, USR 704 – Univ. Orléans, OSUC, 18330 Nançay, France
LPC2E – Université d'Orléans / CNRS, France
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University, PO Box 9010, Nijmegen 6500 GL, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Oxford Astrophysics, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
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