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Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

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The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project: second data release

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2020

Matthew Kerr ,
Daniel J. Reardon ,
George Hobbs Open the ORCID record for George Hobbs[Opens in a new window] ,
Ryan M. Shannon Open the ORCID record for Ryan M. Shannon[Opens in a new window] ,
Richard N. Manchester ,
Shi Dai ,
Christopher J. Russell Open the ORCID record for Christopher J. Russell[Opens in a new window] ,
Songbo Zhang ,
Willem van Straten Open the ORCID record for Willem van Straten[Opens in a new window]  and
Stefan Osłowski
...Show all authors
Matthew Kerr*
Affiliation:
Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC20375-5352, USA
Daniel J. Reardon*
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria3122, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia
George Hobbs
Affiliation:
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia
Ryan M. Shannon
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria3122, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia
Richard N. Manchester
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia
Shi Dai
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia
Christopher J. Russell
Affiliation:
CSIRO Scientific Computing, Australian Technology Park, Locked Bag 9013, Alexandria, NSW1435, Australia
Songbo Zhang
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing210008, China International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA6009, Australia
Willem van Straten
Affiliation:
Institute for Radio Astronomy & Space Research, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland1142, New Zealand
Stefan Osłowski
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria3122, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia
Aditya Parthasarathy
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria3122, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia
Renee Spiewak
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria3122, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia
Matthew Bailes
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria3122, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia
N. D. Ramesh Bhat
Affiliation:
International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia6102, Australia
Andrew D. Cameron
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia
William A. Coles
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093, USA
James Dempsey
Affiliation:
CSIRO Information Management & Technology, GPO Box 1700, CanberraACT 2601
Xinping Deng
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia
Boris Goncharov
Affiliation:
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
Jane F. Kaczmarek
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Parkes Observatory, 473 Telescope road, ParkesNSW, 2870
Michael J. Keith
Affiliation:
Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Alan Turing Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
Paul D. Lasky
Affiliation:
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
Marcus E. Lower
Affiliation:
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria3122, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia
Brett Preisig
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Parkes Observatory, 473 Telescope road, ParkesNSW, 2870
John Mihran Sarkissian
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Parkes Observatory, 473 Telescope road, ParkesNSW, 2870
Lawrence Toomey
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia
Hongguang Wang
Affiliation:
School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou510006, China
Jingbo Wang
Affiliation:
Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 150 Science 1-Street, Urumqi, Xinjiang830011, China
Lei Zhang
Affiliation:
CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Australia Telescope National Facility, PO Box 76, EppingNSW1710, Australia University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing100101, China
Xingjiang Zhu
Affiliation:
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Australia School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Matthew Kerr, E-mail: matthew.kerr@nrl.navy.mil and Daniel J. Reardon, E-mail: dreardon@swin.edu.au
Author for correspondence: Matthew Kerr, E-mail: matthew.kerr@nrl.navy.mil and Daniel J. Reardon, E-mail: dreardon@swin.edu.au
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Abstract

We describe 14 yr of public data from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA), an ongoing project that is producing precise measurements of pulse times of arrival from 26 millisecond pulsars using the 64-m Parkes radio telescope with a cadence of approximately 3 weeks in three observing bands. A comprehensive description of the pulsar observing systems employed at the telescope since 2004 is provided, including the calibration methodology and an analysis of the stability of system components. We attempt to provide full accounting of the reduction from the raw measured Stokes parameters to pulse times of arrival to aid third parties in reproducing our results. This conversion is encapsulated in a processing pipeline designed to track provenance. Our data products include pulse times of arrival for each of the pulsars along with an initial set of pulsar parameters and noise models. The calibrated pulse profiles and timing template profiles are also available. These data represent almost 21 000 h of recorded data spanning over 14 yr. After accounting for processes that induce time-correlated noise, 22 of the pulsars have weighted root-mean-square timing residuals of $<\!\!1\,\mu\text{s}$ in at least one radio band. The data should allow end users to quickly undertake their own gravitational wave analyses, for example, without having to understand the intricacies of pulsar polarisation calibration or attain a mastery of radio frequency interference mitigation as is required when analysing raw data files.

Keywords

gravitational wavesinstrumentation: miscellaneousmethods: observationalpulsars: general
Type
Research Article
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Volume 37 , 2020 , e020
Copyright
© Astronomical Society of Australia 2020; published by Cambridge University Press

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