Search

We report on the detection of unintended electromagnetic radiation (UEMR) from the second-generation of Starlink satellites. Observations with the LOFAR radio telescope between 10 to 88MHz and 110 to 188MHz show broadband emission covering the frequency ranges from 40 to 70MHz and 110 to 188MHz from the v2-Mini and v2-Mini Direct-to-Cell Starlink satellites. The spectral power flux density of this broadband UEMR varies from satellite to satellite, with values ranging from 15Jy to 1300Jy, between 56 and 66MHz, and from 2 to 100Jy over two distinct 8MHz frequency ranges centered at 120 and 161MHz. We compared the detected power flux densities of this UEMR to that emitted by the first generation v1.0 and v1.5 Starlink satellites. When correcting for the observed satellite distances, we find that the second-generation satellites emit UEMR that is up to a factor of 32 stronger compared to the first generation. The calculated electric field strengths of the detected UEMR exceed typical electromagnetic compatibility standards used for commercial electronic devices as well as recommended emission thresholds from the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-R) aimed at protecting the 150.05-153MHz frequency range allocated to radio astronomy. We characterize the properties of the detected UEMR with the aim of assisting the satellite operator with the identification of the cause of the UEMR., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Recent observations have revealed rare, previously unknown flashes of cosmic radio waves lasting from milliseconds to minutes, and with periodicity of minutes to an hour [1-4]. These transient radio signals must originate from sources in the Milky Way, and from coherent emission processes in astrophysical plasma. They are theorised to be produced in the extreme and highly magnetised environments around white dwarfs or neutron stars [5-8]. However, the astrophysical origin of these signals remains contested, and multiple progenitor models may be needed to explain their diverse properties. Here we present the discovery of a transient radio source, ILT J1101+5521, whose roughly minute-long pulses arrive with a periodicity of 125.5 minutes. We find that ILT J1101+5521 is an M dwarf - white dwarf binary system with an orbital period that matches the period of the radio pulses, which are observed when the two stars are in conjunction. The binary nature of ILT J1101+5521 establishes that some long-period radio transients originate from orbital motion modulating the observed emission, as opposed to an isolated rotating star. We conclude that ILT J1101+5521 is likely a polar system where magnetic interaction has synchronised the rotational and orbital periods of the white dwarf [9]. Magnetic interaction and plasma exchange between the two stars may generate the sporadic radio emission. Such mechanisms have been previously theorised [10-13], but not observationally established.

We report on radio timing observations of PSR J0210+5845 which reveal large deviations from typical pulsar spin-down behaviour. We interpret these deviations as being due to binary motion around the $V=13.5$ star 2MASS J02105640$+$5845176, which is coincident in celestial position and distance with the pulsar. Archival observations and new optical spectroscopy identify this star as a B6V star with a temperature of $T_\mathrm{eff}\approx 14\,000$K and a mass of $M_\mathrm{c}= 3.5$ to $3.8$M$_\odot$, making it the lowest mass main-sequence star known orbiting a non-recycled pulsar. We found that the timing observations constrain the binary orbit to be wide and moderately eccentric, with an orbital period of $P_\mathrm{b}=47^{+40}_{-14}$yr and eccentricity $e=0.46^{+0.10}_{-0.07}$. We predict that the next periastron passage will occur between 2030 and 2034. Due to the low companion mass, we find that the probability for a system with the properties of PSR J0210+5845 and its binary companion to survive the supernova is low. We show that a low velocity and fortuitously directed natal kick is required for the binary to remain bound during the supernova explosion, and argue that an electron-capture supernova is a plausible formation scenario for the pulsar., Comment: Accepted to A&A

The Australian, Chinese, European, Indian, and North American pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations recently reported, at varying levels, evidence for the presence of a nanohertz gravitational wave background (GWB). Given that each PTA made different choices in modeling their data, we perform a comparison of the GWB and individual pulsar noise parameters across the results reported from the PTAs that constitute the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). We show that despite making different modeling choices, there is no significant difference in the GWB parameters that are measured by the different PTAs, agreeing within $1\sigma$. The pulsar noise parameters are also consistent between different PTAs for the majority of the pulsars included in these analyses. We bridge the differences in modeling choices by adopting a standardized noise model for all pulsars and PTAs, finding that under this model there is a reduction in the tension in the pulsar noise parameters. As part of this reanalysis, we "extended" each PTA's data set by adding extra pulsars that were not timed by that PTA. Under these extensions, we find better constraints on the GWB amplitude and a higher signal-to-noise ratio for the Hellings and Downs correlations. These extensions serve as a prelude to the benefits offered by a full combination of data across all pulsars in the IPTA, i.e., the IPTA's Data Release 3, which will involve not just adding in additional pulsars, but also including data from all three PTAs where any given pulsar is timed by more than as single PTA., Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, submitted to ApJ

We report on observations of 68 satellites belonging to the SpaceX Starlink constellation with the LOFAR radio telescope. Radiation associated with Starlink satellites was detected at observing frequencies between 110 and 188 MHz. A combination of broad-band features, covering the entire observed bandwidth, as well as narrow-band (bandwidth < 12.2 kHz) emission at frequencies of 125, 135, 143.05, 150, and 175 MHz, was observed. The presence and properties of both the narrow- and broad-band features vary between satellites at different orbital altitudes. While the narrow-band detections at 143.05 MHz can be attributed to reflections of radar signals from the French GRAVES Space Surveillance Radar, the signal properties of the broad- and narrow-band features at the other frequencies suggest that this radiation is intrinsic to the Starlink satellites and it is seen for 47 out of the 68 Starlink satellites that were observed. We observed spectral power flux densities vary from 0.1 to 10 Jy for broad-band radiation, to 10 to 500 Jy for some of the narrow-band radiation, equivalent to electric field strengths of up to 49 dB[uV/m] (as measured at a 10 m distance from the satellites, with a measurement bandwidth of 120 kHz). In addition, we present equivalent power flux density simulations of the full Starlink phase 1 constellation, as well as other satellite constellations, for one frequency band allocated to radio astronomy by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). With these, we calculate the maximum radiation level that each satellite constellation would need to have to comply with regulatory limits for intended emissions in that band. However, these limits do not apply if the radiation is unintended, that is to say if it does not originate from intentionally radiated signals for radio communication or other purposes. (shortened), Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, in press

Pulsar Timing Array experiments probe the presence of possible scalar or pseudoscalar ultralight dark matter particles through decade-long timing of an ensemble of galactic millisecond radio pulsars. With the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array, we focus on the most robust scenario, in which dark matter interacts only gravitationally with ordinary baryonic matter. Our results show that ultralight particles with masses $10^{-24.0}~\text{eV} \lesssim m \lesssim 10^{-23.3}~\text{eV}$ cannot constitute $100\%$ of the measured local dark matter density, but can have at most local density $\rho\lesssim 0.3$ GeV/cm$^3$., Comment: 5 pages + acknowledgements + refs, 2 figures. Text and figures match the version published in PRL

The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) and Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA) collaborations have measured a low-frequency common signal in the combination of their second and first data releases respectively, with the correlation properties of a gravitational wave background (GWB). Such signal may have its origin in a number of physical processes including a cosmic population of inspiralling supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs); inflation, phase transitions, cosmic strings and tensor mode generation by non-linear evolution of scalar perturbations in the early Universe; oscillations of the Galactic potential in the presence of ultra-light dark matter (ULDM). At the current stage of emerging evidence, it is impossible to discriminate among the different origins. Therefore, in this paper, we consider each process separately, and investigate the implications of the signal under the hypothesis that it is generated by that specific process. We find that the signal is consistent with a cosmic population of inspiralling SMBHBs, and its relatively high amplitude can be used to place constraints on binary merger timescales and the SMBH-host galaxy scaling relations. If this origin is confirmed, this is the first direct evidence that SMBHBs merge in nature, adding an important observational piece to the puzzle of structure formation and galaxy evolution. As for early Universe processes, the measurement would place tight constraints on the cosmic string tension and on the level of turbulence developed by first-order phase transitions. Other processes would require non-standard scenarios, such as a blue-tilted inflationary spectrum or an excess in the primordial spectrum of scalar perturbations at large wavenumbers. Finally, a ULDM origin of the detected signal is disfavoured, which leads to direct constraints on the abundance of ULDM in our Galaxy., Comment: 30 pages, 23 figures, replaced to match the version published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, note the change in the numbering order in the series (now paper IV)

We present the results of a search for continuous gravitational wave signals (CGWs) in the second data release (DR2) of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) collaboration. The most significant candidate event from this search has a gravitational wave frequency of 4-5 nHz. Such a signal could be generated by a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) in the local Universe. We present the results of a follow-up analysis of this candidate using both Bayesian and frequentist methods. The Bayesian analysis gives a Bayes factor of 4 in favor of the presence of the CGW over a common uncorrelated noise process, while the frequentist analysis estimates the p-value of the candidate to be 1%, also assuming the presence of common uncorrelated red noise. However, comparing a model that includes both a CGW and a gravitational wave background (GWB) to a GWB only, the Bayes factor in favour of the CGW model is only 0.7. Therefore, we cannot conclusively determine the origin of the observed feature, but we cannot rule it out as a CGW source. We present results of simulations that demonstrate that data containing a weak gravitational wave background can be misinterpreted as data including a CGW and vice versa, providing two plausible explanations of the EPTA DR2 data. Further investigations combining data from all PTA collaborations will be needed to reveal the true origin of this feature., Comment: 13 figures, 15 pages, accepted

The nanohertz gravitational wave background (GWB) is expected to be an aggregate signal of an ensemble of gravitational waves emitted predominantly by a large population of coalescing supermassive black hole binaries in the centres of merging galaxies. Pulsar timing arrays, ensembles of extremely stable pulsars, are the most precise experiments capable of detecting this background. However, the subtle imprints that the GWB induces on pulsar timing data are obscured by many sources of noise. These must be carefully characterized to increase the sensitivity to the GWB. In this paper, we present a novel technique to estimate the optimal number of frequency coefficients for modelling achromatic and chromatic noise and perform model selection. We also incorporate a new model to fit for scattering variations in the pulsar timing package temponest and created realistic simulations of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) datasets that allowed us to test the efficacy of our noise modelling algorithms. We present an in-depth analysis of the noise properties of 25 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) that form the second data release (DR2) of the EPTA and investigate the effect of incorporating low-frequency data from the Indian PTA collaboration. We use enterprise and temponest packages to compare noise models with those reported with the EPTA DR1. We find that, while in some pulsars we can successfully disentangle chromatic from achromatic noise owing to the wider frequency coverage in DR2, in others the noise models evolve in a more complicated way. We also find evidence of long-term scattering variations in PSR J1600$-$3053. Through our simulations, we identify intrinsic biases in our current noise analysis techniques and discuss their effect on GWB searches. The results presented here directly help improve sensitivity to the GWB and are already being used as part of global PTA efforts., Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, 9 tables

Pulsar timing arrays offer a probe of the low-frequency gravitational wave spectrum (1 - 100 nanohertz), which is intimately connected to a number of markers that can uniquely trace the formation and evolution of the Universe. We present the dataset and the results of the timing analysis from the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA). The dataset contains high-precision pulsar timing data from 25 millisecond pulsars collected with the five largest radio telescopes in Europe, as well as the Large European Array for Pulsars. The dataset forms the foundation for the search for gravitational waves by the EPTA, presented in associated papers. We describe the dataset and present the results of the frequentist and Bayesian pulsar timing analysis for individual millisecond pulsars that have been observed over the last ~25 years. We discuss the improvements to the individual pulsar parameter estimates, as well as new measurements of the physical properties of these pulsars and their companions. This data release extends the dataset from EPTA Data Release 1 up to the beginning of 2021, with individual pulsar datasets with timespans ranging from 14 to 25 years. These lead to improved constraints on annual parallaxes, secular variation of the orbital period, and Shapiro delay for a number of sources. Based on these results, we derived astrophysical parameters that include distances, transverse velocities, binary pulsar masses, and annual orbital parallaxes., Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 13 tables, Astronomy & Astrophysics in press

We present the results of the search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB) at nanohertz frequencies using the second data release of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) for 25 millisecond pulsars and a combination with the first data release of the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA). We analysed (i) the full 24.7-year EPTA data set, (ii) its 10.3-year subset based on modern observing systems, (iii) the combination of the full data set with the first data release of the InPTA for ten commonly timed millisecond pulsars, and (iv) the combination of the 10.3-year subset with the InPTA data. These combinations allowed us to probe the contributions of instrumental noise and interstellar propagation effects. With the full data set, we find marginal evidence for a GWB, with a Bayes factor of four and a false alarm probability of $4\%$. With the 10.3-year subset, we report evidence for a GWB, with a Bayes factor of $60$ and a false alarm probability of about $0.1\%$ ($\gtrsim 3\sigma$ significance). The addition of the InPTA data yields results that are broadly consistent with the EPTA-only data sets, with the benefit of better noise modelling. Analyses were performed with different data processing pipelines to test the consistency of the results from independent software packages. The inferred spectrum from the latest EPTA data from new generation observing systems is rather uncertain and in mild tension with the common signal measured in the full data set. However, if the spectral index is fixed at 13/3, the two data sets give a similar amplitude of ($2.5\pm0.7)\times10^{-15}$ at a reference frequency of $1\,{\rm yr}^{-1}$. By continuing our detection efforts as part of the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA), we expect to be able to improve the measurement of spatial correlations and better characterise this signal in the coming years., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, 4 appendix figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We present the first large sample of scintillation arcs in millisecond pulsars, analysing 12 sources observed with the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP), and the Effelsberg 100\,m telescope. We estimate the delays from multipath propagation, measuring significant correlated changes in scattering timescales over a 10-year timespan. Many sources show compact concentrations of power in the secondary spectrum, which in PSRs J0613$-$0200 and J1600$-$3053 can be tracked between observations, and are consistent with compact scattering at fixed angular positions. Other sources such as PSRs J1643$-$1224 and J0621+1002 show diffuse, asymmetric arcs which are likely related to phase-gradients across the scattering screen. PSR B1937+21 shows at least three distinct screens which dominate at different times and evidence of varying screen axes or multi-screen interactions. We model annual and orbital arc curvature variations in PSR J0613$-$0200, providing a measurement of the longitude of ascending node, resolving the sense of the orbital inclination, where our best fit model is of a screen with variable axis of anisotropy over time, corresponding to changes in the scattering of the source. Unmodeled variations of the screen's axis of anisotropy are likely to be a limiting factor in determining orbital parameters with scintillation, requiring careful consideration of variable screen properties, or independent VLBI measurements. Long-term scintillation studies such as this serve as a complementary tool to pulsar timing, to measure a source of correlated noise for pulsar timing arrays, solve pulsar orbits, and to understand the astrophysical origin of scattering screens., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, first revision. 18 pages, 16 figures

We search for a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) generated by a network of cosmic strings using six millisecond pulsars from Data Release 2 (DR2) of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA). We perform a Bayesian analysis considering two models for the network of cosmic string loops, and compare it to a simple power-law model which is expected from the population of supermassive black hole binaries. Our main strong assumption is that the previously reported common red noise process is a SGWB. We find that the one-parameter cosmic string model is slightly favored over a power-law model thanks to its simplicity. If we assume a two-component stochastic signal in the data (supermassive black hole binary population and the signal from cosmic strings), we get a $95\%$ upper limit on the string tension of $\log_{10}(G\mu) < -9.9$ ($-10.5$) for the two cosmic string models we consider. In extended two-parameter string models, we were unable to constrain the number of kinks. We test two approximate and fast Bayesian data analysis methods against the most rigorous analysis and find consistent results. These two fast and efficient methods are applicable to all SGWBs, independent of their source, and will be crucial for analysis of extended data sets., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures; typo corrected in (5)

LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) has previously detected bursts from the periodically active, repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source FRB 20180916B down to unprecedentedly low radio frequencies of 110 MHz. Here we present 11 new bursts in 223 more hours of continued monitoring of FRB 20180916B in the 110-188 MHz band with LOFAR. We place new constraints on the source's activity window $w = 4.3^{+0.7}_{-0.2}$ day, and phase centre $\phi_{\mathrm{c}}^{\mathrm{LOFAR}} = 0.67^{+0.03}_{-0.02}$ in its 16.33-day activity cycle, strengthening the evidence for its frequency-dependent activity cycle. Propagation effects like Faraday rotation and scattering are especially pronounced at low frequencies and constrain properties of FRB 20180916B's local environment. We track variations in scattering and time-frequency drift rates, and find no evidence for trends in time or activity phase. Faraday rotation measure (RM) variations seen between June 2021 and August 2022 show a fractional change $>$50% with hints of flattening of the gradient of the previously reported secular trend seen at 600 MHz. The frequency-dependent window of activity at LOFAR appears stable despite the significant changes in RM, leading us to deduce that these two effects have different causes. Depolarization of and within individual bursts towards lower radio frequencies is quantified using LOFAR's large fractional bandwidth, with some bursts showing no detectable polarization. However, the degree of depolarization seems uncorrelated to the scattering timescales, allowing us to evaluate different depolarization models. We discuss these results in the context of models that invoke rotation, precession, or binary orbital motion to explain the periodic activity of FRB 20180916B., Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, Submitted to MNRAS

The vast majority of extragalactic compact continuum radio sources are associated with star formation or jets from (super)massive black holes and, as such, are more likely to be found in association with starburst galaxies or early-type galaxies. Two new populations of radio sources were recently identified: (a) compact and persistent sources (PRSs) associated with fast radio bursts (FRBs) in dwarf galaxies and (b) compact sources in dwarf galaxies that could belong to the long-sought population of intermediate-mass black holes. Despite the interesting aspects of these newly found sources, the current sample size is small, limiting scrutiny of the underlying population. Here, we present a search for compact radio sources coincident with dwarf galaxies. We search the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey (LoTSS), the most sensitive low-frequency (144 MHz central frequency) large-area survey for optically thin synchrotron emission to date. Exploiting the high spatial resolution (6 arcsec) and low astrometric uncertainty (~0.2 arcsec) of the LoTSS, we match its compact sources to the compiled sample of dwarf galaxies in the Census of the Local Universe, an H alpha survey with the Palomar Observatory 48 inch Samuel Oschin Telescope. We identify 29 over-luminous compact radio sources, evaluate the probability of chance alignment within the sample, investigate the potential nature of these sources, and evaluate their volumetric density and volumetric rate. While optical line-ratio diagnostics on the nebular lines from the host galaxies support a star-formation origin rather than an AGN origin, future high-angular-resolution radio data are necessary to ascertain the origin of the radio sources. We discuss planned strategies to differentiate between candidate FRB hosts and intermediate-mass black holes., Comment: Accepted to A&A

The repeating FRB 20121102A was localized to a star-forming region in a dwarf galaxy and found to be co-located with a persistent radio source (PRS). FRB 20190520B is only the second known source sharing phenomenology akin to FRB 20121102A's, with similar burst activity, host galaxy properties, as well as being associated with a PRS. PRS emission is potentially a calorimeter, allowing us to estimate the energy output of the central FRB engine. Independently of FRB studies, PRSs have been found in dwarf galaxies and interpreted as intermediate mass black holes. To improve our understanding of such sources associated with dwarf galaxies, it is imperative to increase the known sample size. Here, we present a search for compact radio sources coincident with dwarf galaxies, discuss source candidates and planned strategies to differentiate them between candidate FRB hosts and intermediate mass black holes., Comment: To appear in the proceedings of "IAUS 369: The dawn of cosmology & multi-messenger studies with fast radio bursts" eds: E.F. Keane, A. Fialkov, K.M. Rajwade & C.R.H. Walker

Context. Apertif is a multi-beam receiver system for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope that operates at 1.1-1.5 GHz, which overlaps with various radio services, resulting in contamination of astronomical signals with radio-frequency interference (RFI). Aims. We analyze approaches to mitigate Apertif interference and design an automated detection procedure for its imaging mode. Using this approach, we present long-term RFI detection results of over 300 Apertif observations. Methods. Our approach is based on the AOFlagger detection approach. We introduce several new features, including ways to deal with ranges of invalid data (e.g. caused by shadowing) in both the SumThreshold and scale-invariant rank operator steps; pre-calibration bandpass calibration; auto-correlation flagging; and HI flagging avoidance. These methods are implemented in a new framework that uses the Lua language for scripting, which is new in AOFlagger version 3. Results. Our approach removes RFI fully automatically, and is robust and effective enough for further calibration and (continuum) imaging of these data. Analysis of 304 observations show an average of 11.1% of lost data due to RFI with a large spread. We observe 14.6% RFI in auto-correlations. Computationally, AOFlagger achieves a throughput of 370 MB/s on a single computing node. Compared to published machine learning results, the method is one to two orders of magnitude faster., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

We present the detection of 68 sources from the most sensitive radio survey in circular polarisation conducted to date. We use the second data release of the 144 MHz LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey to produce circularly-polarised maps with median 140 $\mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$ noise and resolution of 20$''$ for $\approx$27% of the northern sky (5634 deg$^{2}$). The leakage of total intensity into circular polarisation is measured to be $\approx$0.06%, and our survey is complete at flux densities $\geq1$ mJy. A detection is considered reliable when the circularly-polarised fraction exceeds 1%. We find the population of circularly-polarised sources is composed of four distinct classes: stellar systems, pulsars, active galactic nuclei, and sources unidentified in the literature. The stellar systems can be further separated into chromospherically-active stars, M dwarfs, and brown dwarfs. Based on the circularly-polarised fraction and lack of an optical counterpart, we show it is possible to infer whether the unidentified sources are likely unknown pulsars or brown dwarfs. By the completion of this survey of the northern sky, we expect to detect 300$\pm$100 circularly-polarised sources., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 15 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. The catalogue will be publicly available at http://lofar-surveys.org/ and via Vizier shortly

The LOFAR Tied-Array All-Sky Survey (LOTAAS) is the most sensitive untargeted radio pulsar survey performed at low radio frequencies (119--151\,MHz) to date and has discovered 76 new radio pulsars, among which the 23.5-s pulsar J0250+5854, up until recently the slowest-spinning radio pulsar known. Here, we report on the timing solutions of 35 pulsars discovered by LOTAAS, which include a nulling pulsar and a mildly recycled pulsar, and thereby complete the full timing analysis of the LOTAAS pulsar discoveries. We give an overview of the findings from the full LOTAAS sample of 76 pulsars, discussing their pulse profiles, radio spectra and timing parameters. We found that the pulse profiles of some of the pulsars show profile variations in time or frequency and while some pulsars show signs of scattering, a large majority display no pulse broadening. The LOTAAS discoveries have on average steeper radio spectra and have longer spin periods ($1.4\times$) as well as lower spin-down rates ($3.1\times$) compared to the known pulsar population. We discuss the cause of these differences, and attribute them to a combination of selection effects of the LOTAAS survey as well as previous pulsar surveys, though can not rule out that older pulsars tend to have steeper radio spectra., Comment: Accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysics

We present LOFAR imaging observations from the April/May 2020 active episode of magnetar SGR 1935+2154. We place the earliest radio limits on persistent emission following the low-luminosity fast radio burst FRB 200428 from the magnetar. We also perform an image-plane search for transient emission and find no radio flares during our observations. We examine post-FRB radio upper limits in the literature and find that all are consistent with the multi-wavelength afterglow predicted by the synchrotron maser shock model interpretation of FRB 200428. However, early optical observations appear to rule out the simple versions of the afterglow model with constant-density circumburst media. We show that these constraints may be mitigated by adapting the model for a wind-like environment, but only for a limited parameter range. In addition, we suggest that late-time non-thermal particle acceleration occurs within the afterglow model when the shock is no longer relativistic, which may prove vital for detecting afterglows from other Galactic FRBs. We also discuss future observing strategies for verifying either magnetospheric or maser shock FRB models via rapid radio observations of Galactic magnetars and nearby FRBs., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Context. The occultation of a radio source by the plasma tail of a comet can be used to probe structure and dynamics in the tail. Such occultations are rare, and the occurrence of scintillation, due to small-scale density variations in the tail, remains somewhat controversial. Aims. A detailed observation taken with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) of a serendipitous occultation of the compact radio source 3C196 by the plasma tail of comet C/2020 F3 (Neowise) is presented. 3C196 tracked almost perpendicularly behind the tail, providing a unique profile cut only a short distance downstream from the cometary nucleus itself. Methods. Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) is observed as the rapid variation of the intensity received of a compact radio source due to density variations in the solar wind. IPS in the signal received from 3C196 was observed for five hours, covering the full transit behind the plasma tail of comet C/2020 F3 (Neowise) on 16 July 2020, and allowing an assessment of the solar wind in which the comet and its tail are embedded. Results. The results reveal a sudden and strong enhancement in scintillation which is unequivocally attributable to the plasma tail. The strongest scintillation is associated with the tail boundaries, weaker scintillation is seen within the tail, and previously-unreported periodic variations in scintillation are noted, possibly associated with individual filaments of plasma. Furthermore, contributions from the solar wind and comet tail are separated to measure a sharp decrease in the velocity of material within the tail, suggesting a steep velocity shear resulting in strong turbulence along the tail boundary, Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 8 pages, 9 figures

We report the discovery of a ring of low surface brightness radio emission around the Calvera pulsar, a high Galactic latitude, isolated neutron star, in the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). It is centered at $\alpha=14\mathrm{h}11\mathrm{m}12.6\mathrm{s}$, $\delta=+79^\mathrm{o}23'15"$, has inner and outer radii of $14.2'$ and $28.4'$, and an integrated flux density at 144 MHz of $1.08\pm0.15$ Jy. The ring center is offset by $4.9'$ from the location of the Calvera pulsar. H$\alpha$ observations with the Isaac Newton Telescope show no coincident optical emission, but do show a small ($\sim20"$) optical structure internal to the ring. We consider three possible interpretations for the ring: that it is an H~II region, a supernova remnant (SNR), or an Odd Radio Circle (ORC). The positional coincidence of the ring, the pulsar, and an X-ray-emitting non-equilibrium ionisation plasma previously detected, lead us to prefer the SNR interpretation. If the source is indeed a SNR and its association with the Calvera pulsar is confirmed, then Calvera's SNR, or G118.4+37.0, will be one of few SNRs in the Galactic halo., Comment: Accepted in A&A

We report on the detection of quasi-periodic micro-structure in three millisecond pulsars (MSPs), PSRs J1022+1001, J2145-0750 and J1744-1134, using high time resolution data acquired with the Large European Array for Pulsars at a radio frequency of 1.4 GHz. The occurrence rate of quasi-periodic micro-structure is consistent among pulses with different peak flux densities. Using an auto-correlation analysis, we measure the periodicity and width of the micro-structure in these three pulsars. The detected micro-structure from PSRs J1022+1001 and J1744-1134 is often highly linearly polarised. In PSR J1022+1001, the linear polarisation position angles of micro-structure pulses are in general flat with a small degree of variation. Using these results, we further examine the frequency and rotational period dependency of micro-structure properties established in previous work, along with the angular beaming and temporal modulation models that explains the appearance of micro-structure. We also discuss a possible link of micro-structure to the properties of some of the recently discovered fast radio bursts which exhibit a very similar emission morphology., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, published in MNRAS

Discovering radio pulsars, particularly millisecond pulsars (MSPs), is important for a range of astrophysical applications, such as testing theories of gravity or probing the magneto-ionic interstellar medium. We aim to discover pulsars that may have been missed in previous pulsar searches by leveraging known pulsar observables (primarily polarisation) in the sensitive, low-frequency radio images from the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS), and have commenced the Targeted search, using LoTSS images, for polarised pulsars (TULIPP) survey. For this survey, we identified linearly and circularly polarised point sources with flux densities brighter than 2 mJy in LoTSS images at a centre frequency of 144 MHz with a 48 MHz bandwidth. Over 40 known pulsars, half of which are MSPs, were detected as polarised sources in the LoTSS images and excluded from the survey. We have obtained beam-formed LOFAR observations of 30 candidates, which were searched for pulsations using coherent de-dispersion. Here, we present the results of the first year of the TULIPP survey. We discovered two pulsars, PSRs J1049+5822 and J1602+3901, with rotational periods of P=0.73 s and 3.7 ms, respectively. We also detected a further five known pulsars (two slowly-rotating pulsars and three MSPs) for which accurate sky positions were not available to allow a unique cross-match with LoTSS sources. This targeted survey presents a relatively efficient method by which pulsars, particularly MSPs, may be discovered using the flexible observing modes of sensitive radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array and its pathfinders/precursors, particularly since wide-area all-sky surveys using coherent de-dispersion are currently computationally infeasible., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in A&A

We report on radio timing observations of the black widow binary pulsar J0610$-$2100 and optical observations of its binary companion. The radio timing observations extend the timing baseline to 16yr and reveal a marginal detection of the orbital period derivative, but they show no significant evidence of orbital variations such as those seen in other black widow pulsars. Furthermore, no eclipses are seen in the observations at observing frequencies ranging from 310 to 2700MHz. The optical VRI light curves were modulated with the orbital period, reaching maximum brightness of $V=26.8$, $R=25.4$, and $I=23.8$ at superior conjunction of the companion, confirming irradiation of the companion by the pulsar. Modelling the light curves indicates that the companion is likely not filling its Roche lobe, while having a moderate inclination ($i > 54\degr$). We find an unusually low temperature and a low irradiation for the irradiated hemisphere of the companion. We investigate the absence of radio eclipses in PSR J0610-2100 and in other black widow systems in relation to their binary, pulsar, and companion properties. We also discuss the suitability of PSR J0610-2100 for pulsar timing array observations aimed at detecting nano-Hertz gravitational waves., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication by A&A

In this work we study variations in the parabolic scintillation arcs of the binary millisecond pulsar PSR J1643-1224 over five years using the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP). The 2D power spectrum of scintillation, called the secondary spectrum, often shows a parabolic distribution of power, where the arc curvature encodes the relative velocities and distances of the pulsar, ionised interstellar medium (IISM), and Earth. We observe a clear parabolic scintillation arc which varies in curvature throughout the year. The distribution of power in the secondary spectra are inconsistent with a single scattering screen which is fully 1D, or entirely isotropic. We fit the observed arc curvature variations with two models; an isotropic scattering screen, and a model with two independent 1D screens. We measure the distance to the scattering screen to be in the range 114-223 pc, depending on the model, consistent with the known distance of the foreground large-diameter HII region Sh 2-27 (112+/-17 pc), suggesting that it is the dominant source of scattering. We obtain only weak constraints on the pulsar's orbital inclination and angle of periastron, since the scintillation pattern is not very sensitive to the pulsar's motion, since the screen is much closer to the Earth than the pulsar. More measurements of this kind - where scattering screens can be associated with foreground objects - will help to inform the origins and distribution of scattering screens within our galaxy., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by MNRAS

We searched for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background in the second data release of the International Pulsar Timing Array, a global collaboration synthesizing decadal-length pulsar-timing campaigns in North America, Europe, and Australia. In our reference search for a power law strain spectrum of the form $h_c = A(f/1\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1})^{\alpha}$, we found strong evidence for a spectrally-similar low-frequency stochastic process of amplitude $A = 3.8^{+6.3}_{-2.5}\times10^{-15}$ and spectral index $\alpha = -0.5 \pm 0.5$, where the uncertainties represent 95\% credible regions, using information from the auto- and cross-correlation terms between the pulsars in the array. For a spectral index of $\alpha = -2/3$, as expected from a population of inspiralling supermassive black hole binaries, the recovered amplitude is $A = 2.8^{+1.2}_{-0.8}\times10^{-15}$. Nonetheless, no significant evidence of the Hellings-Downs correlations that would indicate a gravitational-wave origin was found. We also analyzed the constituent data from the individual pulsar timing arrays in a consistent way, and clearly demonstrate that the combined international data set is more sensitive. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this combined data set produces comparable constraints to recent single-array data sets which have more data than the constituent parts of the combination. Future international data releases will deliver increased sensitivity to gravitational wave radiation, and significantly increase the detection probability., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted in MNRAS

We describe how to implement the spectral kurtosis method of interference removal (zapping) on a digitized signal of averaged power values. Spectral kurtosis is a hypothesis test, analogous to the t-test, with a null hypothesis that the amplitudes from which power is formed belong to a `good' distribution -- typically Gaussian with zero mean -- where power values are zapped if the hypothesis is rejected at a specified confidence level. We derive signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) as a function of amount of zapping for folded radio pulsar observations consisting of a sum of signals from multiple telescopes in independent radio-frequency interference (RFI) environments, comparing four methods to compensate for lost data with coherent (tied-array) and incoherent summation. For coherently summed amplitudes, scaling amplitudes from non-zapped telescopes achieves a higher SNR than replacing zapped amplitudes with artificial noise. For incoherently summed power values, the highest SNR is given by scaling power from non-zapped telescopes to maintain a constant mean. We use spectral kurtosis to clean a tied-array radio pulsar observation by the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP): the signal from one telescope is zapped with time and frequency resolutions of 6.25 $\mu$s and 0.16 MHz, removing interference along with 0.27 per cent of `good' data, giving an uncertainty of 0.25 $\mu$s in pulse time of arrival (TOA) for PSR J1022+1001. We use a single-telescope observation to demonstrate recovery of the pulse profile shape, with 0.6 per cent of data zapped and a reduction from 1.22 to 0.70 $\mu$s in TOA uncertainty., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures

The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) collaboration has recently released an extended data set for six pulsars (DR2) and reported evidence for a common red noise signal. Here we present a noise analysis for each of the six pulsars. We consider several types of noise: (i) radio frequency independent, "achromatic", and time-correlated red noise; (ii) variations of dispersion measure and scattering; (iii) system and band noise; and (iv) deterministic signals (other than gravitational waves) that could be present in the PTA data. We perform Bayesian model selection to find the optimal combination of noise components for each pulsar. Using these custom models we revisit the presence of the common uncorrelated red noise signal previously reported in the EPTA DR2 and show that the data still supports it with a high statistical significance. Next, we confirm that there is no preference for or against the Hellings-Downs spatial correlations expected for the stochastic gravitational-wave background. The main conclusion of the EPTA DR2 paper remains unchanged despite a very significant change in the noise model of each pulsar. However, modelling the noise is essential for the robust detection of gravitational waves and its impact could be significant when analysing the next EPTA data release, which will include a larger number of pulsars and more precise measurements., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, 7 tables, 1 appendix figure and 1 appendix table, accepted for publication to MNRAS

We present results from the search for a stochastic gravitational-wave background (GWB) as predicted by the theory of General Relativity using six radio millisecond pulsars from the Data Release 2 (DR2) of the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) covering a timespan up to 24 years. A GWB manifests itself as a long-term low-frequency stochastic signal common to all pulsars, a common red signal (CRS), with the characteristic Hellings-Downs (HD) spatial correlation. Our analysis is performed with two independent pipelines, \eprise{} and \tn{}+\ftwo{}, which produce consistent results. A search for a CRS with simultaneous estimation of its spatial correlations yields spectral properties compatible with theoretical GWB predictions, but does not result in the required measurement of the HD correlation, as required for GWB detection. Further Bayesian model comparison between different types of CRSs, including a GWB, finds the most favoured model to be the common uncorrelated red noise described by a power-law with $A = 5.13_{-2.73}^{+4.20} \times 10^{-15}$ and $\gamma = 3.78_{-0.59}^{+0.69}$ (95\% credible regions). Fixing the spectral index to $\gamma=13/3$ as expected from the GWB by circular, inspiralling supermassive black-hole binaries results in an amplitude of $A =2.95_{-0.72}^{+0.89} \times 10^{-15}$. We implement three different models, BAYESEPHEM, LINIMOSS and EPHEMGP, to address possible Solar-system ephemeris (SSE) systematics and conclude that our results may only marginally depend on these effects. This work builds on the methods and models from the studies on the EPTA DR1. We show that under the same analysis framework the results remain consistent after the data set extension., Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables, 2 appendix tables and 1 appendix figure

We present and implement the concept of the Fourier-domain dedispersion (FDD) algorithm, a brute-force incoherent dedispersion algorithm. This algorithm corrects the frequency-dependent dispersion delays in the arrival time of radio emission from sources such as radio pulsars and fast radio bursts. Where traditional time-domain dedispersion algorithms correct time delays using time shifts, the FDD algorithm performs these shifts by applying phase rotations to the Fourier-transformed time-series data. Incoherent dedispersion to many trial dispersion measures (DMs) is compute, memory-bandwidth and I/O intensive and dedispersion algorithms have been implemented on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to achieve high computational performance. However, time-domain dedispersion algorithms have low arithmetic intensity and are therefore often memory-bandwidth limited. The FDD algorithm avoids this limitation and is compute limited, providing a path to exploit the potential of current and upcoming generations of GPUs. We implement the FDD algorithm as an extension of the DEDISP time-domain dedispersion software. We compare the performance and energy-to-completion of the FDD implementation using an NVIDIA Titan RTX GPU against the standard as well as an optimized version of DEDISP. The optimized implementation already provides a factor of 1.5 to 2 speedup at only 66% of the energy utilization compared to the original algorithm. We find that the FDD algorithm outperforms the optimized time-domain dedispersion algorithm by another 20% in performance and 5% in energy-to-completion when a large number of DMs (>=512) are required. The FDD algorithm provides additional performance improvements for FFT-based periodicity surveys of radio pulsars, as the FFT back to the time domain can be omitted. We expect that this computational performance gain will further improve in the future., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We describe the APERture Tile In Focus (Apertif) system, a phased array feed (PAF) upgrade of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope which has transformed this telescope into a high-sensitivity, wide field-of-view L-band imaging and transient survey instrument. Using novel PAF technology, up to 40 partially overlapping beams can be formed on the sky simultaneously, significantly increasing the survey speed of the telescope. With this upgraded instrument, an imaging survey covering an area of 2300 deg2 is being performed which will deliver both continuum and spectral line data sets, of which the first data has been publicly released. In addition, a time domain transient and pulsar survey covering 15,000 deg2 is in progress. An overview of the Apertif science drivers, hardware and software of the upgraded telescope is presented, along with its key performance characteristics., Comment: 29 pages, 42 figures, accepted for publication by A&A

The number of satellites in low-Earth orbit is increasing rapidly, and many tens of thousands of them are expected to be launched in the coming years. There is a strong concern among the astronomical community about the contamination of optical and near-infrared observations by satellite trails. We analyze the impact analysis of such constellations on optical and near-infrared astronomical observations in a rigorous and quantitative way, using updated constellation information, and considering imagers and spectrographs and their very different characteristics. We introduce an analytical method that allows us to rapidly and accurately evaluate the effect of a very large number of satellites, accounting for their magnitudes and the effect of trailing of the satellite image during the exposure. We use this to evaluate the impact on a series of representative instruments, including imagers (traditional narrow field instruments, wide-field survey cameras, and astro-photographic cameras) and spectrographs (long-slit and fibre-fed), taking into account their limiting magnitude. As already known (Walker et al. 2020), the effect of satellite trails is more damaging for high-altitude satellites, on wide-field instruments, or essentially during the first and last hours of the night. Thanks to their brighter limiting magnitudes, low- and mid-resolution spectrographs will be less affected, but the contamination will be at about the same level as that of the science signal, introducing additional challenges. High-resolution spectrographs will essentially be immune. We propose a series of mitigating measures, including one that uses the described simulation method to optimize the scheduling of the observations. We conclude that no single mitigation measure will solve the problem of satellite trails for all instruments and all science cases., Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are exceptionally luminous flashes of unknown physical origin, reaching us from other galaxies (Petroff et al. 2019). Most FRBs have only ever been seen once, while others flash repeatedly, though sporadically (Spitler et al. 2016, CHIME/FRB Collaboration et al. 2021). Many models invoke magnetically powered neutron stars (magnetars) as the engines producing FRB emission (Margalit & Metzger 2018, CHIME/FRB Collaboration et al. 2020). Recently, CHIME/FRB announced the discovery (Bhardwaj et al. 2021) of the repeating FRB 20200120E, coming from the direction of the nearby grand design spiral galaxy M81. Four potential counterparts at other observing wavelengths were identified (Bhardwaj et al. 2021) but no definitive association with these sources, or M81, could be made. Here we report an extremely precise localisation of FRB 20200120E, which allows us to associate it with a globular cluster (GC) in the M81 galactic system and to place it ~2pc offset from the optical center of light of the GC. This confirms (Bhardwaj et al. 2021) that FRB 20200120E is 40 times closer than any other known extragalactic FRB. Because such GCs host old stellar populations, this association strongly challenges FRB models that invoke young magnetars formed in a core-collapse supernova as powering FRB emission. We propose, instead, that FRB 20200120E is a highly magnetised neutron star formed via either accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf or via merger of compact stars in a binary system (Margalit et al. 2019). Alternative scenarios involving compact binary systems, efficiently formed inside globular clusters, could also be responsible for the observed bursts., Comment: Submitted. Comments welcome

We present simultaneous multiwavelength observations of the 4.66 ms redback pulsar PSR J1048+2339. We performed phase-resolved spectroscopy with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) searching for signatures of a residual accretion disk or intra-binary shock emission, constraining the companion radial velocity semi-amplitude ($K_2$), and estimating the neutron star mass ($M_{\rm NS}$). Using the FORS2-VLT intermediate-resolution spectra, we measured a companion velocity of $291 < K_2 < 348$ km s$^{-1}$ and a binary mass ratio of $0.209 < q < 0.250$. Combining our results for $K_2$ and $q$, we constrained the mass of the neutron star and the companion to $(1.0 < M_{\rm NS} < 1.6){\rm sin}^{-3}i\,M_{\odot}$ and $(0.24 < M_2 < 0.33){\rm sin}^{-3}i\,M_{\odot}$, respectively, where $i$ is the system inclination. The Doppler map of the H$\alpha$ emission line exhibits a spot feature at the expected position of the companion star and an extended bright spot close to the inner Lagrangian point. We interpret this extended emission as the effect of an intra-binary shock originating from the interaction between the pulsar relativistic wind and the matter leaving the companion star. The mass loss from the secondary star could be either due to Roche-lobe overflow or to the ablation of its outer layer by the energetic pulsar wind. Contrastingly, we find no evidence for an accretion disk. We report on the results of the SRT and the LOFAR simultaneous radio observations at three different frequencies (150 MHz, 336 MHz, and 1400 MHz). No pulsed radio signal is found in our search. This is probably due to both scintillation and the presence of material expelled from the system which can cause the absorption of the radio signal at low frequencies. Finally, we report on an attempt to search for optical pulsations using IFI+Iqueye mounted at the 1.2 m Galileo telescope at the Asiago Observatory., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Magnetars are a promising candidate for the origin of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). The detection of an extremely luminous radio burst from the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 on 2020 April 28 added credence to this hypothesis. We report on simultaneous and non-simultaneous observing campaigns using the Arecibo, Effelsberg, LOFAR, MeerKAT, MK2 and Northern Cross radio telescopes and the MeerLICHT optical telescope in the days and months after the April 28 event. We did not detect any significant single radio pulses down to fluence limits between 25 mJy ms and 18 Jy ms. Some observing epochs overlapped with times when X-ray bursts were detected. Radio images made on four days using the MeerKAT telescope revealed no point-like persistent or transient emission at the location of the magnetar. No transient or persistent optical emission was detected over seven days. Using the multi-colour MeerLICHT images combined with relations between DM, NH and reddening we constrain the distance to SGR J1935+2154, to be between 1.5 and 6.5 kpc. The upper limit is consistent with some other distance indicators and suggests that the April 28 burst is closer to two orders of magnitude less energetic than the least energetic FRBs. The lack of single-pulse radio detections shows that the single pulses detected over a range of fluences are either rare, or highly clustered, or both. It may also indicate that the magnetar lies somewhere between being radio-quiet and radio-loud in terms of its ability to produce radio emission efficiently., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Corresponding author B. W. Stappers

High-precision pulsar timing requires accurate corrections for dispersive delays of radio waves, parametrized by the dispersion measure (DM), particularly if these delays are variable in time. In a previous paper we studied the Solar-wind (SW) models used in pulsar timing to mitigate the excess of DM annually induced by the SW, and found these to be insufficient for high-precision pulsar timing. Here we analyze additional pulsar datasets to further investigate which aspects of the SW models currently used in pulsar timing can be readily improved, and at what levels of timing precision SW mitigation is possible. Our goals are to verify: a) whether the data are better described by a spherical model of the SW with a time-variable amplitude rather than a time-invariant one as suggested in literature, b) whether a temporal trend of such a model's amplitudes can be detected. We use the pulsar-timing technique on low-frequency pulsar observations to estimate the DM and quantify how this value changes as the Earth moves around the Sun. Specifically, we monitor the DM in weekly to monthly observations of 14 pulsars taken with LOFAR across time spans of up to 6 years. We develop an informed algorithm to separate the interstellar variations in DM from those caused by the SW and demonstrate the functionality of this algorithm with extensive simulations. Assuming a spherically symmetric model for the SW density, we derive the amplitude of this model for each year of observations. We show that a spherical model with time-variable amplitude models the observations better than a spherical model with constant amplitude, but that both approaches leave significant SW induced delays uncorrected in a number of pulsars in the sample. The amplitude of the spherical model is found to be variable in time, as opposed to what has been previously suggested., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

FRB 20180916B is a well-studied repeating fast radio burst source. Its proximity (~150 Mpc), along with detailed studies of the bursts, have revealed many clues about its nature -- including a 16.3-day periodicity in its activity. Here we report on the detection of 18 bursts using LOFAR at 110-188 MHz, by far the lowest-frequency detections of any FRB to date. Some bursts are seen down to the lowest-observed frequency of 110 MHz, suggesting that their spectra extend even lower. These observations provide an order-of-magnitude stronger constraint on the optical depth due to free-free absorption in the source's local environment. The absence of circular polarization and nearly flat polarization angle curves are consistent with burst properties seen at 300-1700 MHz. Compared with higher frequencies, the larger burst widths (~40-160 ms at 150 MHz) and lower linear polarization fractions are likely due to scattering. We find ~2-3 rad/m^2 variations in the Faraday rotation measure that may be correlated with the activity cycle of the source. We compare the LOFAR burst arrival times to those of 38 previously published and 22 newly detected bursts from the uGMRT (200-450 MHz) and CHIME/FRB (400-800 MHz). Simultaneous observations show 5 CHIME/FRB bursts when no emission is detected by LOFAR. We find that the burst activity is systematically delayed towards lower frequencies by ~3 days from 600 MHz to 150 MHz. We discuss these results in the context of a model in which FRB 20180916B is an interacting binary system featuring a neutron star and high-mass stellar companion., Comment: Accepted for publication by ApJL

Using data from the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP), and the Effelsberg telescope, we study the scintillation parameters of the millisecond pulsar J0613-0200 over a 7 year timespan. The "secondary spectrum" -- the 2D power spectrum of scintillation -- presents the scattered power as a function of time delay, and contains the relative velocities of the pulsar, observer, and scattering material. We detect a persistent parabolic scintillation arc, suggesting scattering is dominated by a thin, anisotropic region. The scattering is poorly described by a simple exponential tail, with excess power at high delays; we measure significant, detectable scattered power at times out to $\sim 5 \mu s$, and measure the bulk scattering delay to be between 50 to 200\,ns with particularly strong scattering throughout 2013. These delays are too small to detect a change of the pulse profile shape, yet they would change the times-of-arrival as measured through pulsar timing. The arc curvature varies annually, and is well fit by a one-dimensional scattering screen $\sim 40\%$ of the way towards the pulsar, with a changing orientation during the increased scattering in 2013. Effects of uncorrected scattering will introduce time delays correlated over time in individual pulsars, and may need to be considered in gravitational wave analyses. Pulsar timing programs would benefit from simultaneously recording in a way that scintillation can be resolved, in order to monitor the variable time delays caused by multipath propagation., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Published in MNRAS

We report the discovery of 1.97 ms period gamma-ray pulsations from the 75 minute orbital-period binary pulsar now named PSR J1653-0158. The associated Fermi Large Area Telescope gamma-ray source 4FGL J1653.6-0158 has long been expected to harbor a binary millisecond pulsar. Despite the pulsar-like gamma-ray spectrum and candidate optical/X-ray associations -- whose periodic brightness modulations suggested an orbit -- no radio pulsations had been found in many searches. The pulsar was discovered by directly searching the gamma-ray data using the GPU-accelerated Einstein@Home distributed volunteer computing system. The multi-dimensional parameter space was bounded by positional and orbital constraints obtained from the optical counterpart. More sensitive analyses of archival and new radio data using knowledge of the pulsar timing solution yield very stringent upper limits on radio emission. Any radio emission is thus either exceptionally weak, or eclipsed for a large fraction of the time. The pulsar has one of the three lowest inferred surface magnetic-field strengths of any known pulsar with $B_{\rm surf} \approx 4 \times 10^{7}\,$G. The resulting mass function, combined with models of the companion star's optical light curve and spectra, suggests a pulsar mass $\gtrsim 2\,M_{\odot}$. The companion is light-weight with mass $\sim 0.01\,M_{\odot}$, and the orbital period is the shortest known for any rotation-powered binary pulsar. This discovery demonstrates the Fermi Large Area Telescope's potential to discover extreme pulsars that would otherwise remain undetected., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, published in ApJL

We report on the detection of seven bursts from the periodically active, repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source FRB 180916.J0158+65 in the 300-400-MHz frequency range with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). Emission in multiple bursts is visible down to the bottom of the GBT band, suggesting that the cutoff frequency (if it exists) for FRB emission is lower than 300 MHz. Observations were conducted during predicted periods of activity of the source, and had simultaneous coverage with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) and the FRB backend on the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope. We find that one of the GBT-detected bursts has potentially associated emission in the CHIME band (400-800 MHz) but we detect no bursts in the LOFAR band (110-190 MHz), placing a limit of $\alpha > -1.0$ on the spectral index of broadband emission from the source. We also find that emission from the source is severely band-limited with burst bandwidths as low as $\sim$40 MHz. In addition, we place the strictest constraint on observable scattering of the source, $<$ 1.7 ms, at 350 MHz, suggesting that the circumburst environment does not have strong scattering properties. Additionally, knowing that the circumburst environment is optically thin to free-free absorption at 300 MHz, we find evidence against the association of a hyper-compact HII region or a young supernova remnant (age $<$ 50 yr) with the source., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL

The discovery that at least some Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) repeat has ruled out cataclysmic events as the progenitors of these particular bursts. FRB~121102 is the most well-studied repeating FRB but despite extensive monitoring of the source, no underlying pattern in the repetition has previously been identified. Here, we present the results from a radio monitoring campaign of FRB~121102 using the 76-m Lovell telescope. Using the pulses detected in the Lovell data along with pulses from the literature, we report a detection of periodic behaviour of the source over the span of five years of data. We predict that the source is currently `off' and that it should turn `on' for the approximate MJD range $59002-59089$ (2020-06-02 to 2020-08-28). This result, along with the recent detection of periodicity from another repeating FRB, highlights the need for long-term monitoring of repeating FRBs at a high cadence. Using simulations, we show that one needs at least 100 hours of telescope time to follow-up repeating FRBs at a cadence of 0.5--3 days to detect periodicities in the range of 10--150 days. If the period is real, it shows that repeating FRBs can have a large range in their activity periods that might be difficult to reconcile with neutron star precession models., Comment: 9 pages, 6 Figures, 3 Tables. More detections added to the periodicity search. Updated period and activity period. Complete tables (Table 1 and Table 3) have been submitted as online supplementary materials

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are bright, extragalactic radio pulses whose origins are still unknown. Until recently, most FRBs have been detected at frequencies greater than 1 GHz with a few exceptions at 800 MHz. The recent discoveries of FRBs at 400 MHz from the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope has opened up possibilities for new insights about the progenitors while many other low frequency surveys in the past have failed to find any FRBs. Here, we present results from a FRB survey recently conducted at the Jodrell Bank Observatory at 332 MHz with the 76-m Lovell telescope for a total of 58 days. We did not detect any FRBs in the survey and report a 90$\%$ upper limit of 5500 FRBs per day per sky for a Euclidean Universe above a fluence threshold of 46 Jy ms. We discuss the possibility of absorption as the main cause of non-detections in low frequency (< 800 MHz) searches and invoke different absorption models to explain the same. We find that Induced Compton Scattering alone cannot account for absorption of radio emission and that our simulations favour a combination of Induced Compton Scattering and Free-Free Absorption to explain the non-detections. For a free-free absorption scenario, our constraints on the electron density are consistent with those expected in the post-shock region of the ionized ejecta in Super-Luminous SuperNovae (SLSNe)., Comment: 12 pages, 9 Figures, 2 Tables, Second revision submitted to MNRAS

We report on the multi-frequency timing observations of 21 pulsars discovered in the LOFAR Tied-Array All-Sky Survey (LOTAAS). The timing data were taken at central frequencies of 149 MHz (LOFAR) as well as 334 and 1532 MHz (Lovell Telecope). The sample of pulsars includes 20 isolated pulsars and the first binary pulsar discovered by the survey, PSR J1658$+$3630. We modelled the timing properties of the pulsars, which showed that they have, on average, larger characteristic ages. We present the pulse profiles of the pulsars across the three observing bands, where PSR J1643$+$1338 showed profile evolution that appears not to be well-described by the radius-to-frequency-mapping model. Furthermore, we modelled the spectra of the pulsars across the same observing bands, using a simple power law, and found an average spectral index of $-1.9 \pm 0.5$. Amongst the pulsars studied here, PSR J1657$+$3304 showed large flux density variations of a factor of 10 over 300 days, as well as mode changing and nulling on timescales of a few minutes. We modelled the rotational and orbital properties of PSR J1658$+$3630, which has a spin period of 33 ms in a binary orbit of 3.0 days with a companion of minimum mass of 0.87$M_{\odot}$, likely a Carbon-Oxygen or Oxygen-Neon-Magnesium type white dwarf. PSR J1658$+$3630 has a dispersion measure of 3.0 pc cm$^{-3}$, making it possibly one of the closest binary pulsars known., Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief, bright, extragalactic radio flashes. Their physical origin remains unknown, but dozens of possible models have been postulated. Some FRB sources exhibit repeat bursts. Though over a hundred FRB sources have been discovered to date, only four have been localised and associated with a host galaxy, with just one of the four known to repeat. The properties of the host galaxies, and the local environments of FRBs, provide important clues about their physical origins. However, the first known repeating FRB has been localised to a low-metallicity, irregular dwarf galaxy, and the apparently non-repeating sources to higher-metallicity, massive elliptical or star-forming galaxies, suggesting that perhaps the repeating and apparently non-repeating sources could have distinct physical origins. Here we report the precise localisation of a second repeating FRB source, FRB 180916.J0158+65, to a star-forming region in a nearby (redshift $z = 0.0337 \pm 0.0002$) massive spiral galaxy, whose properties and proximity distinguish it from all known hosts. The lack of both a comparably luminous persistent radio counterpart and a high Faraday rotation measure further distinguish the local environment of FRB 180916.J0158+65 from that of the one previously localised repeating FRB source, FRB 121102. This demonstrates that repeating FRBs have a wide range of luminosities, and originate from diverse host galaxies and local environments., Comment: 61 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables. Published in Nature

We present the results of processing an additional 44% of the High Time Resolution Universe South Low Latitude (HTRU-S LowLat) pulsar survey, the most sensitive blind pulsar survey of the southern Galactic plane to date. Our partially-coherent segmented acceleration search pipeline is designed to enable the discovery of pulsars in short, highly-accelerated orbits, while our 72-min integration lengths will allow us to discover pulsars at the lower end of the pulsar luminosity distribution. We report the discovery of 40 pulsars, including three millisecond pulsar-white dwarf binary systems (PSRs J1537-5312, J1547-5709 and J1618-4624), a black-widow binary system (PSR J1745-23) and a candidate black-widow binary system (PSR J1727-2951), a glitching pulsar (PSR J1706-4434), an eclipsing binary pulsar with a 1.5-yr orbital period (PSR J1653-45), and a pair of long spin-period binary pulsars which display either nulling or intermittent behaviour (PSRs J1812-15 and J1831-04). We show that the total population of 100 pulsars discovered in the HTRU-S LowLat survey to date represents both an older and lower-luminosity population, and indicates that we have yet to reach the bottom of the luminosity distribution function. We present evaluations of the performance of our search technique and of the overall yield of the survey, considering the 94% of the survey which we have processed to date. We show that our pulsar yield falls below earlier predictions by approximately 25% (especially in the case of millisecond pulsars), and discuss explanations for this discrepancy as well as future adaptations in RFI mitigation and searching techniques which may address these shortfalls., Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures, 13 tables

We have constructed a new timescale, TT(IPTA16), based on observations of radio pulsars presented in the first data release from the International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA). We used two analysis techniques with independent estimates of the noise models for the pulsar observations and different algorithms for obtaining the pulsar timescale. The two analyses agree within the estimated uncertainties and both agree with TT(BIPM17), a post-corrected timescale produced by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). We show that both methods could detect significant errors in TT(BIPM17) if they were present. We estimate the stability of the atomic clocks from which TT(BIPM17) is derived using observations of four rubidium fountain clocks at the US Naval Observatory. Comparing the power spectrum of TT(IPTA16) with that of these fountain clocks suggests that pulsar-based timescales are unlikely to contribute to the stability of the best timescales over the next decade, but they will remain a valuable independent check on atomic timescales. We also find that the stability of the pulsar-based timescale is likely to be limited by our knowledge of solar-system dynamics, and that errors in TT(BIPM17) will not be a limiting factor for the primary goal of the IPTA, which is to search for the signatures of nano-Hertz gravitational waves., Comment: accepted by MNRAS

We are using the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) to perform the LOFAR Tied-Array All-Sky (LOTAAS) survey for pulsars and fast transients. Here we present the astrometric and rotational parameters of 20 pulsars discovered as part of LOTAAS. These pulsars have regularly been observed with LOFAR at 149 MHz and the Lovell telescope at 1532 MHz, supplemented by some observations with the Lovell telescope at 334 MHz and the Nancay Radio Telescope at 1484 MHz. Timing models are calculated for the 20 pulsars, some of which are among the slowest-spinning pulsars known. PSR J1236-0159 rotates with a period P ~ 3.6 s, while 5 additional pulsars show P > 2 s. Also, the spin-down rates Pdot are, on average, low, with PSR J0815+4611 showing Pdot ~ 4E-18. Some of the pulse profiles, generically single-peaked, present complex shapes evolving with frequency. Multi-frequency flux measurements show that these pulsars have generically relatively steep spectra but exceptions are present, with values ranging between ~ -4 and -1. Among the pulsar sample, a large fraction shows large single-pulse variability, with 4 pulsars being undetectable more than 15% of the time and one tentatively classified as a Rotating Radio Transient. Two single-peaked pulsars show drifting sub-pulses.

In this paper, we describe the International Pulsar Timing Array second data release, which includes recent pulsar timing data obtained by three regional consortia: the European Pulsar Timing Array, the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, and the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array. We analyse and where possible combine high-precision timing data for 65 millisecond pulsars which are regularly observed by these groups. A basic noise analysis, including the processes which are both correlated and uncorrelated in time, provides noise models and timing ephemerides for the pulsars. We find that the timing precisions of pulsars are generally improved compared to the previous data release, mainly due to the addition of new data in the combination. The main purpose of this work is to create the most up-to-date IPTA data release. These data are publicly available for searches for low-frequency gravitational waves and other pulsar science., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS and in review, 23 pages, 5 figures

We investigate the impact of noise processes on high-precision pulsar timing. Our analysis focuses on the measurability of the second spin frequency derivative $\ddot{\nu}$. This $\ddot{\nu}$ can be induced by several factors including the radial velocity of a pulsar. We use Bayesian methods to model the pulsar times-of-arrival in the presence of red timing noise and dispersion measure variations, modelling the noise processes as power laws. Using simulated times-of-arrival that both include red noise, dispersion measure variations and non-zero $\ddot{\nu}$ values, we find that we are able to recover the injected $\ddot{\nu}$, even when the noise model used to inject and recover the input parameters are different. Using simulations, we show that the measurement uncertainty on $\ddot{\nu}$ decreases with the timing baseline $T$ as $T^\gamma$, where $\gamma=-7/2+\alpha/2$ for power law noise models with shallow power law indices $\alpha$ ($0<\alpha<4$). For steep power law indices ($\alpha>8$), the measurement uncertainty reduces with $T^{-1/2}$. We applied this method to times-of-arrival from the European Pulsar Timing Array and the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array and determined $\ddot{\nu}$ probability density functions for 49 millisecond pulsars. We find a statistically significant $\ddot{\nu}$ value for PSR\,B1937+21 and consider possible options for its origin. Significant (95 per cent C.L.) values for $\ddot{\nu}$ are also measured for PSRs\,J0621+1002 and J1022+1001, thus future studies should consider including it in their ephemerides. For binary pulsars with small orbital eccentricities, like PSR\,J1909$-$3744, extended ELL1 models should be used to overcome computational issues. The impacts of our results on the detection of gravitational waves are also discussed., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; Accepted by MNRAS