The Parkes Observatory Pulsar Data Archive

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development and current status of the Parkes Observatory Pulsar Data Archive, which makes decades of pulsar observation data accessible for research, analysis, and new scientific discoveries.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive, long-term archive of pulsar data from the Parkes telescope, facilitating global access and enabling new research from archival data.

Findings

Nearly 2 million files from 400+ projects archived

Enhanced accessibility of pulsar data for research

New scientific results derived from archival data

Abstract

Data from observations of pulsars made by Murriyang, the CSIRO Parkes 64-metre radio-telescope over the last three decades are more accessible than ever before, largely due to their storage in expansive long-term archives. Containing nearly 2 million files from more than 400 Parkes pulsar projects, CSIRO's Data Access Portal is leading the global effort in making pulsar data accessible. In this article, we present the current status of the archive, and provide information about the acquisition, analysis, reduction, visualisation, preservation and dissemination of these data sets. We highlight the importance of such an archive, and present a selection of new results emanating from archival data.