ABSTRACT

The Thousand-Pulsar-Array (TPA) programme currently monitors about 500 pulsars with the sensitive MeerKAT radio telescope by using subarrays to observe multiple sources simultaneously. Here we define the adopted observing strategy, which guarantees that each target is observed long enough to obtain a high-fidelity pulse profile, thereby reaching a sufficient precision of a simple pulse shape parameter. This precision is estimated from the contribution of the system noise of the telescope, and the pulse-to-pulse variability of each pulsar, which we quantify under some simplifying assumptions. We test the assumptions and choice of model parameters using data from the MeerKAT 64-dish array and the Lovell and Parkes telescopes. We demonstrate that the observing times derived from our method produce high-fidelity pulse profiles that meet the needs of the TPA in studying pulse shape variability and pulsar timing. Our method can also be used to compare strategies for observing large numbers of pulsars with telescopes capable of forming multiple subarray configurations. We find that using two 32-dish MeerKAT subarrays is the most efficient strategy for the TPA project. We also find that the ability to observe in different array configurations will become increasingly important for large observing programmes using the Square Kilometre Array telescope.

中文翻译：

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MeerKAT 上的千脉冲阵列程序 – II。子阵脉冲星监测的观测策略

摘要

千脉冲星阵列 (TPA) 计划目前使用灵敏的 MeerKAT 射电望远镜通过使用子阵列同时观测多个源来监测大约 500 颗脉冲星。在这里，我们定义了所采用的观测策略，保证每个目标的观测时间足够长，以获得高保真脉冲轮廓，从而达到简单脉冲形状参数的足够精度。该精度是根据望远镜系统噪声的贡献以及每个脉冲星的脉冲间可变性估算的，我们在一些简化假设下对其进行了量化。我们使用来自 MeerKAT 64 盘阵列以及 Lovell 和 Parkes 望远镜的数据来测试模型参数的假设和选择。我们证明了从我们的方法得出的观测时间产生了高保真脉冲轮廓，满足 TPA 在研究脉冲形状变异性和脉冲星计时方面的需要。我们的方法还可用于比较使用能够形成多个子阵列配置的望远镜观测大量脉冲星的策略。我们发现使用两个 32 盘的 MeerKAT 子阵列是 TPA 项目最有效的策略。我们还发现，对于使用平方公里阵列望远镜的大型观测项目，以不同​​阵列配置进行观测的能力将变得越来越重要。我们发现使用两个 32 盘的 MeerKAT 子阵列是 TPA 项目最有效的策略。我们还发现，对于使用平方公里阵列望远镜的大型观测项目，以不同​​阵列配置进行观测的能力将变得越来越重要。我们发现使用两个 32 盘的 MeerKAT 子阵列是 TPA 项目最有效的策略。我们还发现，对于使用平方公里阵列望远镜的大型观测项目，以不同​​阵列配置进行观测的能力将变得越来越重要。