Discovery of 26 new Galactic radio transients by MeerTRAP

Abstract

Radio searches for single pulses provide the opportunity to discover one-off events, fast transients and some pulsars that might otherwise be missed by conventional periodicity searches. The MeerTRAP real-time search pipeline operates commensally to observations with the MeerKAT telescope. Here, we report on 26 new Galactic radio transients, mostly rotating radio transients (RRATs) and also the detection of one RRAT and two pulsars that were independently discovered by other surveys. The dispersion measures of two of the new sources marginally exceed the Galactic contribution depending on the electron density model used. Using a simple method of fitting a Gaussian function to individual pulses, and obtaining positions of arcsecond accuracy from image-based localisations using channelised voltage data from our transient buffer, we have derived timing solutions spanning multiple years for five sources. The timing parameters imply ages of several Myr and low surface magnetic field strengths which is characteristic of RRATs. We were able to measure spin periods for eight more transients, including one source which appears to rotate every 17.5 seconds. A majority of the sources have only been seen in one observation, sometimes despite multiple return visits to the field. Some sources exhibit complex emission features like component switching and periodic microstructure.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{turner2026discovery,
  title = {{Discovery of 26 new Galactic radio transients by MeerTRAP}},
  author = {J. D. Turner and B. W. Stappers and J. Tian and M. C. Bezuidenhout and M. Caleb and L. N. Driessen and F. Jankowski and I. Pastor-Marazuela and K. M. Rajwade and M. Surnis and M. Kramer and E. D. Barr and M. Berezina},
  journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1093/mnras/staf098},
  eprint = {2501.08224},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://insu.hal.science/insu-04909658v2},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Discovery of 26 new Galactic radio transients by MeerTRAP
AU  - J. D. Turner
AU  - B. W. Stappers
AU  - J. Tian
AU  - M. C. Bezuidenhout
AU  - M. Caleb
AU  - L. N. Driessen
AU  - F. Jankowski
AU  - I. Pastor-Marazuela
AU  - K. M. Rajwade
AU  - M. Surnis
AU  - M. Kramer
AU  - E. D. Barr
AU  - M. Berezina
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/15
JO  - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO  - 10.1093/mnras/staf098
UR  - https://insu.hal.science/insu-04909658v2
AB  - Radio searches for single pulses provide the opportunity to discover one-off events, fast transients and some pulsars that might otherwise be missed by conventional periodicity searches. The MeerTRAP real-time search pipeline operates commensally to observations with the MeerKAT telescope. Here, we report on 26 new Galactic radio transients, mostly rotating radio transients (RRATs) and also the detection of one RRAT and two pulsars that were independently discovered by other surveys. The dispersion measures of two of the new sources marginally exceed the Galactic contribution depending on the electron density model used. Using a simple method of fitting a Gaussian function to individual pulses, and obtaining positions of arcsecond accuracy from image-based localisations using channelised voltage data from our transient buffer, we have derived timing solutions spanning multiple years for five sources. The timing parameters imply ages of several Myr and low surface magnetic field strengths which is characteristic of RRATs. We were able to measure spin periods for eight more transients, including one source which appears to rotate every 17.5 seconds. A majority of the sources have only been seen in one observation, sometimes despite multiple return visits to the field. Some sources exhibit complex emission features like component switching and periodic microstructure.
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
ER  -

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