新的脉冲星巡天及研究

New Pulsar Surveys and Research

从1967年第一颗脉冲星发现以后,一些大尺度巡天就开始了。早期脉冲星巡天都是在低频(400MHz左右)进行的。由于星际散射、色散脉冲展宽和趋于银道面的背景辐射温度升高等严重的选择效应,新的脉冲星巡天多在高频(1000MHz以上)展开,并选择了非常快的采样率。 新的脉冲星巡天展示了在银盘和球状星团中的毫秒脉冲星,洞察了银河系内部,并发现了大量的相对年轻的脉冲星。射电与光学观测的结合,对从产生到非常晚期的脉冲星的磁场演化有了合理解释。新的脉冲星与超新星遗迹成协的发现,大大地增进了我们对脉冲星形成的了解。毫秒脉冲星和脉冲双星的发现,即所谓“再生脉冲星”,使我们对小质量原始X射线双星的演化有了新的认识。球状星团脉冲星发现以后,脉冲星及掩食X射线双星,已成为对银河系最古老部分的形成及演化的一个探针。射电脉冲星观测,日新月异地揭示了中子星的形成与演化的秘密。脉冲星的研究已成为天体物理学中一个引人注目的课题。

New pulsar survey has uncovered millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk and globular cluster systems. High frequency surveys have penetrated the inner Galaxy and discovered a large number of predominantly young pulsars. Combinations of radio and optical observations have resulted in a reasonable understanding of the evolution of the magnetic field in pulsars from birth to very late stages. The discovery of three new pulsar-SNR association have vastly improved our understanding 癴 the formation of neutron stars. The discovery of new millisecond and binary pulsars, the so-called 'recycled pulsars' has offered new insights in the evolution of their progenitors, the low mass X-ray binaries. After the discovery of the pulsars in the globular cluster system, the pulsars and the eclipse of the X-ray binaries have become probes in the formation arid evolution of neutron stars in the most ancien t part of the Galaxy. The observation of radio pulsars have revealed more and more mystery of the formation and evolution of neutron stars. Pulsar research has become an exiting subject in astrophysics.