MeerTime - the MeerKAT Key Science Program on Pulsar Timing
Journal
Date Issued
2016
Author(s)
Bailes, M.
•
Barr, E.
•
Bhat, N. D. R.
•
Brink, J.
•
Buchner, S.
•
•
Camilo, F.
•
Champion, D.
•
Hessels, J.
•
Jameson, A.
•
Johnston, S.
•
Karastergiou, A.
•
Karuppusamy, R.
•
Kaspi, V.
•
Keith, M.
•
Kramer, M.
•
McLaughlin, M.
•
Moodley, K.
•
Oslowski, S.
•
•
Ransom, S.
•
Rasio, F.
•
Sievers, J.
•
Serylak, M.
•
Stappers, B.
•
Stairs, I.
•
Theureau, G.
•
van Straten, W.
•
Weltevrede, P.
•
Wex, N.
Abstract
The MeerKAT telescope represents an outstanding opportunity for radio pulsar timing science
with its unique combination of a large collecting area and aperture efficiency, system temperature , high slew speeds (1-2 deg/s), large bandwidths (770 MHz at 20cm wavelengths), southern hemisphere and ability to form up to four sub-arrays. The MeerTime project is a five-year program on the MeerKAT array by
an international consortium that will regularly time over 1000 radio pulsars to perform tests of
relativistic gravity, search for the gravitational wave signature induced by supermassive black
hole binaries in the timing residuals of millisecond pulsars, explore the interiors of neutron stars
through a pulsar glitch monitoring programme, explore the origin and evolution of binary pul-
sars, monitor the swarms of pulsars that inhabit globular clusters and monitor radio magnetars.
MeerTime will complement the TRAPUM project and time pulsars TRAPUM discovers in sur-
veys of the galactic plane, globular clusters and the galactic centre. In addition to these primary
programmes, over 1000 pulsars will have their arrival times monitored and the data made imme-
diately public. The MeerTime pulsar backend comprises two server-class machines each of which
possess four Graphics Processing Units. Up to four pulsars can be coherently dedispersed simul-
taneously up to dispersion measures of over 1000 pc cm^-3. All data will be provided in psrfits
format. The MeerTime backend will be capable of producing coherently dedispersed filterbank
data for timing multiple pulsars in the cores of globular clusters that is useful for pulsar searches
of tied array beams. The first real-time pulsar profiles have been obtained as part of the MeerKAT
commissioning process, and useful scientific data will start to come online through 2017. All
MeerTime data will ultimately be made available for public use, and any published results will
include the arrival times and profiles used in the results.
Coverage
MeerKAT Science: On the Pathway to the SKA
Volume
277
Start page
11
Conferenece
MeerKAT Science: On the Pathway to the SKA
Conferenece place
Stellenbosch
Conferenece date
25-27 May, 2016
Issn Identifier
1824-8039
Ads BibCode
2016mks..confE..11B
Rights
open.access
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
MeerKAT2016_011.pdf
Description
PDF editoriale
Size
632.62 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
4ee9397338fbba341a0e3c4250a1c18b