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The NANOGrav 11-year Data Set: High-Precision Timing of 45 Millisecond Pulsars

Authors :
Arzoumanian, Zaven
Brazier, Adam
Burke-Spolaor, Sarah
Chamberlin, Sydney
Chatterjee, Shami
Christy, Brian
Cordes, James M
Cornish, Neil J
Crawford, Fronefield
Cromartie, H. Thankful
Crowter, Kathryn
DeCesar, Megan E
Demorest, Paul B
Dolch, Timothy
Ellis, Justin A
Ferdman, Robert D
Ferrara, Elizabeth C
Fonseca, Emmanuel
Garver-Daniels, Nathan
Gentile, Peter A
Halmrast, Daniel
Huerta, E. A
Jenet, Fredrick A
Jessup, Cody
Jones, Glenn
Jones, Megan L
Kaplan, David L
Lam, Michael T
Lazio, T. Joseph W
Levin, Lina
Lommen, Andrea
Lorimer, Duncan R
Luo, Jing
Lynch, Ryan S
Madison, Dustin
Matthews, Allison M
McLaughlin, Maura A
McWilliams, Sean T
Mingarelli, Chiara
Ng, Cherry
Nice, David J
Pennucci, Timothy T
Ransom, Scott M
Ray, Paul S
Siemens, Xavier
Simon, Joseph
Spiewak, Renée
Stairs, Ingrid H
Stinebring, Daniel R
Stovall, Kevin
Swiggum, Joseph K
Taylor, Stephen R
Vallisneri, Michele
van Haasteren, Rutger
Vigeland, Sarah J
Zhu, Weiwei
Source :
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 235(2)
Publication Year :
2018
Publisher :
United States: NASA Center for Aerospace Information (CASI), 2018.

Abstract

We present high-precision timing data over time spans of up to 11 years for 45 millisecond pulsars observed as part of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) project, aimed at detecting and characterizing low-frequency gravitational waves. The pulsars were observed with the Arecibo Observatory and/or the Green Bank Telescope at frequencies ranging from 327 MHz to 2.3 GHz. Most pulsars were observed with approximately monthly cadence, and six high-timing-precision pulsars were observed weekly. All were observed at widely separated frequencies at each observing epoch in order to fit for time-variable dispersion delays. We describe our methods for data processing, time-of-arrival (TOA) calculation, and the implementation of a new, automated method for removing outlier TOAs. We fit a timing model for each pulsar that includes spin, astrometric, and (for binary pulsars) orbital parameters; time-variable dispersion delays; and parameters that quantify pulse-profile evolution with frequency. The timing solutions provide three new parallax measurements, two new Shapiro delay measurements, and two new measurements of significant orbital-period variations. We fit models that characterize sources of noise for each pulsar. We find that 11 pulsars show significant red noise, with generally smaller spectral indices than typically measured for non-recycled pulsars, possibly suggesting a different origin. A companion paper uses these data to constrain the strength of the gravitational-wave background

Subjects

Subjects :
Astrophysics

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
15384357 and 0004637X
Volume :
235
Issue :
2
Database :
NASA Technical Reports
Journal :
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsnas.20180004843
Document Type :
Report
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/aab5b0