The PULSE@Parkes project: A new observing technique for long-term pulsar monitoring

TL;DR

The PULSE@Parkes project engages students in radio pulsar monitoring using the Parkes telescopes, producing valuable long-term data for pulsar studies and public outreach.

Contribution

This paper introduces a novel educational and scientific observing technique involving high school students with state-of-the-art pulsar hardware at Parkes.

Findings

First scientific results from the Parkes 12-m telescope data.

Data used for pulsar glitch and timing noise studies.

Project successfully combines education with valuable scientific data.

Abstract

The PULSE@Parkes project has been designed to monitor the rotation of radio pulsars over time spans of days to years. The observations are obtained using the Parkes 64-m and 12-m radio telescopes by Australian and international high school students. These students learn the basis of radio astronomy and undertake small projects with their observations. The data are fully calibrated and obtained with the state-of-the-art pulsar hardware available at Parkes. The final data sets are archived and are currently being used to carry out studies of 1) pulsar glitches, 2) timing noise, 3) pulse profile stability over long time scales and 4) the extreme nulling phenomenon. The data are also included in other projects such as gamma-ray observatory support and for the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project. In this paper we describe the current status of the project and present the first scientific results from the Parkes 12-m radio telescope. We emphasise that this project offers a straightforward means to enthuse high school students and the general public about radio astronomy while obtaining scientifically valuable data sets.