What happens, when your computer finds something interesting?
If the analysis of a particular set of workunits looks promising and shows clear or faint signs of the form shown above, the target is entered on a "candidate list". From time to time, this list is submitted to the PALFA Consortium for review. If the Consortium finds the respective target promising, too, it schedules a dedicated follow-up observation for this object.
Once the new data is obtained, it is being analyzed using the method described above. With a much longer observation time than in the survey, the follow-up observation should show whether a new pulsar has been found or not with a very high level of confidence.
The handful of users, on whose computers the initial data analysis was performed that found the candidate with the highest significance, will be credited in the acknowledgements section of the scientific discovery paper.
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With the 305 meter dish near Arecibo, Puerto Rico,
each candidate will be observed in a longer follow-up to unveil its true nature. Courtesy of the NAIC - Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the NSF |