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Spectral Resolution Requirements

Again like all radio sources, pulsar observations also benefit from large bandwidths of observation. However, unlike any other kind of continuum radio source, pulsar observations can not often combine the data from across a large bandwidth in a single detector. This is mainly because of the smearing of the pulses produced by differential dispersion delay of frequencies across the band, due to propagation of the pulsar signal through the interstellar medium. This is explained in some detail in section 4 below. In the simplest technique for reducing the effect of dispersion delay smearing, the pulsar signal is processed in a multichannel receiver where the observing band is broken up into narrower frequency channels. The signal in each channel is detected and acquired separately. This requirement of narrower frequency channels across the observing band makes a pulsar receiver similar to a spectral line receiver, though for entirely different reasons.


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Next: Requirements for Time Resolution Up: Requirements for Pulsar Observations Previous: Phased Array Requirements   Contents
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