Pulsars, transients and relativistic astrophysics

Abstract:

Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2020; published by Cambridge University Press. We describe system verification tests and early science results from the pulsar processor (PTUSE) developed for the newly commissioned 64-dish SARAO MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. MeerKAT is a high-gain low-system temperature radio array that currently operates at 580-1 670 MHz and can produce tied-array beams suitable for pulsar observations. This paper presents results from the MeerTime Large Survey Project and commissioning tests with PTUSE. Highlights include observations of the double pulsar, pulse profiles from 34 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from a single 2.5-h observation of the Globular cluster Terzan 5, the rotation measure of Ter5O, a 420-sigma giant pulse from the Large Magellanic Cloud pulsar PSR , and nulling identified in the slow pulsar PSR J0633-2015. One of the key design specifications for MeerKAT was absolute timing errors of less than 5 ns using their novel precise time system. Our timing of two bright MSPs confirm that MeerKAT delivers exceptional timing. PSR exhibits a jitter limit of whilst timing of PSR over almost 11 months yields an rms residual of 66 ns with only 4 min integrations. Our results confirm that the MeerKAT is an exceptional pulsar telescope. The array can be split into four separate sub-arrays to time over 1 000 pulsars per day and the future deployment of S-band (1 750-3 500 MHz) receivers will further enhance its capabilities.

Abstract:

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>We describe system verification tests and early science results from the pulsar processor (PTUSE) developed for the newly commissioned 64-dish SARAO MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. MeerKAT is a high-gain (<jats:inline-formula> <jats:alternatives> <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" mime-subtype="png" mimetype="image" xlink:href="S1323358020000193_inline1.png" /> <jats:tex-math> ${\sim}2.8\,\mbox{K Jy}^{-1}$ </jats:tex-math> </jats:alternatives> </jats:inline-formula>) low-system temperature (<jats:inline-formula> <jats:alternatives> <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" mime-subtype="png" mimetype="image" xlink:href="S1323358020000193_inline2.png" /> <jats:tex-math> ${\sim}18\,\mbox{K at }20\,\mbox{cm}$ </jats:tex-math> </jats:alternatives> </jats:inline-formula>) radio array that currently operates at 580–1 670 MHz and can produce tied-array beams suitable for pulsar observations. This paper presents results from the MeerTime Large Survey Project and commissioning tests with PTUSE. Highlights include observations of the double pulsar <jats:inline-formula> <jats:alternatives> <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" mime-subtype="png" mimetype="image" xlink:href="S1323358020000193_inline3.png" /> <jats:tex-math> $\mbox{J}0737{-}3039\mbox{A}$ </jats:tex-math> </jats:alternatives> </jats:inline-formula>, pulse profiles from 34 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from a single 2.5-h observation of the Globular cluster Terzan 5, the rotation measure of Ter5O, a 420-sigma giant pulse from the Large Magellanic Cloud pulsar PSR <jats:inline-formula> <jats:alternatives> <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" mime-subtype="png" mimetype="image" xlink:href="S1323358020000193_inline4.png" /> <jats:tex-math> $\mbox{J}0540{-}6919$ </jats:tex-math> </jats:alternatives> </jats:inline-formula>, and nulling identified in the slow pulsar PSR J0633–2015. One of the key design specifications for MeerKAT was absolute timing errors of less than 5 ns using their novel precise time system. Our timing of two bright MSPs confirm that MeerKAT delivers exceptional timing. PSR <jats:inline-formula> <jats:alternatives> <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" mime-subtype="png" mimetype="image" xlink:href="S1323358020000193_inline5.png" /> <jats:tex-math> $\mbox{J}2241{-}5236$ </jats:tex-math> </jats:alternatives> </jats:inline-formula> exhibits a jitter limit of <jats:inline-formula> <jats:alternatives> <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" mime-subtype="png" mimetype="image" xlink:href="S1323358020000193_inline6.png" /> <jats:tex-math> $&lt;4\,\mbox{ns h}^{-1}$ </jats:tex-math> </jats:alternatives> </jats:inline-formula> whilst timing of PSR <jats:inline-formula> <jats:alternatives> <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" mime-subtype="png" mimetype="image" xlink:href="S1323358020000193_inline7.png" /> <jats:tex-math> $\mbox{J}1909{-}3744$ </jats:tex-math> </jats:alternatives> </jats:inline-formula> over almost 11 months yields an rms residual of 66 ns with only 4 min integrations. Our results confirm that the MeerKAT is an exceptional pulsar telescope. The array can be split into four separate sub-arrays to time over 1 000 pulsars per day and the future deployment of S-band (1 750–3 500 MHz) receivers will further enhance its capabilities.</jats:p>

Abstract:

Our understanding of how active galactic nucleus feedback operates in galaxy clusters has improved in recent years owing to large efforts in multiwavelength observations and hydrodynamical simulations. However, it is much less clear how feedback operates in galaxy groups, which have shallower gravitational potentials. In this work, using very deep Very Large Array and new MeerKAT observations from the MIGHTEE survey, we compiled a sample of 247 X-ray selected galaxy groups detected in the COSMOS field. We have studied the relation between the X-ray emission of the intra-group medium and the 1.4 GHz radio emission of the central radio galaxy. For comparison, we have also built a control sample of 142 galaxy clusters using ROSAT and NVSS data. We find that clusters and groups follow the same correlation between X-ray and radio emission. Large radio galaxies hosted in the centres of groups and merging clusters increase the scatter of the distribution. Using statistical tests and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the correlation is not dominated by biases or selection effects. We also find that galaxy groups are more likely than clusters to host large radio galaxies, perhaps owing to the lower ambient gas density or a more efficient accretion mode. In these groups, radiative cooling of the intra-cluster medium could be less suppressed by active galactic nucleus heating. We conclude that the feedback processes that operate in galaxy clusters are also effective in groups.