The Cagliari pulsar group is part of
the Cagliari
Astronomical Observatory. We study many aspects of pulsar
astronomy including pulsar timing, its use to detect
gravitational waves, the origin and evolution of pulsars, pulsar
emission properties and mechanisms and the connection between
radio pulsars and other neutron stars - in particular the mysterious
Fast Radio Bursts - and their environments.
In the last decades we have actively
participated in all major pulsar search experiments using
the Parkes radio
telescope and, more recently,
the MeerKAT
telescope: in
the Parkes
High-latitude survey we found the first double pulsar system
J0737-3039A/B (Burgay et al. 2003, Nature; Lyne et al. 2004,
Science) and through
the High
Time Resolution Universe Survey, the astrophysical nature of
Fast Radio Burst was finally
assessed. Searches with
MeerKAT led to many exciting discoveries, including a pulsar
with a massive companion, either the heaviest Neutron Star or
the lightest Black Hole!
As part of
the European Pulsar Timing
Array collaboration (EPTA) we are participating to
the International Pulsar Timing
Array, aimed at detecting and studying gravitational waves
in the nenoHertz regime. EPTA received the Royal Astronomical
Society Group
Achievement Award 2025 for its ground
breaking results.
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