The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array Project: Second data release

Abstract

We describe 14 years 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 three 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 hrs of recorded data spanning over 14 years. After accounting for processes that induce time-correlated noise, 22 of the pulsars have weighted root-mean-square timing residuals of < 1 µs 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.

The NANOGrav 12.5-year data set: Search for Non-Einsteinian Polarization Modes in theGravitational-Wave Background

“…NANOGrav, the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, has been taking pulsar timing data since 2004, and currently monitors over 70 pulsars (Ransom et al 2019). NANOGrav is one of several pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) around the world, which include the European PTA (EPTA; Desvignes et al 2016), the Parkes PTA (PPTA; Kerr et al 2020), the Indian PTA (InPTA; Joshi et al 2018), and the Chinese PTA (Lee 2016). Two additional telescopecentered pulsar timing programs are ongoing which use the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa (Bailes et al 2018) and the CHIME telescope in Canada (Ng 2018).…”

The NANOGrav 12.5-year Data Set: Wideband Timing of 47 Millisecond Pulsars

“…Current PTA experiments include the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav 1 ) (Alam et al submitted to ApJS, Cordes et al 2019a;Ransom et al 2019) , the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array in Australia (PPTA, Kerr et al 2020;Hobbs 2013), the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA, Desvignes et al 2016;Kramer & Champion 2013), and newly established PTA efforts in India (Paul et al 2019) and China (Lee 2016). Together, the PTA collaborations work together under the umbrella venture called the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA, Perera et al 2019;Manchester & IPTA 2013).…”

The NANOGrav 11yr Data Set: Limits on Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Galaxies within 500Mpc

“…Currently, three collaborations are involved in the effort to detect nanohertz GWs: the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational waves (NANOGrav, Ransom et al 2019), the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA, Desvignes et al 2016) and the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA, Kerr et al 2020). Together along with other emerging PTAs, they form a wider consortium, known as the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA, Perera et al 2019).…”