Discovery of 27 new Rotating Radio Transients by MeerTRAP

Abstract

We present the discovery of 27 new Galactic transients made by the commensal MeerTRAP single pulse search programme at the MeerKAT telescope. We determine the location of 14 of these discoveries with arcsecond accuracy by imaging the data captured in the dedicated transient buffer. A preliminary estimate of the period was made for 8 sources using the arrival times of several pulses detected by MeerTRAP. The periods of these transients range between 0.78 s and 4 s. For the previously published MeerTRAP source MTP0040 (PSR J1357-6507), we are able to provide the position and period using new pulses detected since it was reported. We also estimate the radio fluences and discuss the burst rates derived from the commensal search detections. The accurate image-domain localizations were used to conduct follow-up observations and timing analysis. Furthermore, some follow-up observations revealed ordinary pulsar-like pulsed behavior for four of the new sources, illustrating the blurred separation between rotating radio transients and canonical pulsars. We also present coherent timing solutions for 4 sources, providing insight into their rotational properties and their place within the Galactic neutron star population.

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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society15 Oct 2026Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full text6 citedHigh-energy astrophysicsHAL
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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{singh2026discovery,
  title = {{Discovery of 27 new Rotating Radio Transients by MeerTRAP}},
  author = {S. Singh and J. Tian and B. W. Stappers and K. Shaji and K. M. Rajwade and L. Levin and J. D. Turner and M. C. Bezuidenhout and M. Caleb and I. Pastor-Marazuela and F. Jankowski and R. Karuppusamy and E. D. Barr and M. Kramer and R. Breton and C. J. Clark and T. Thongmeearkom and M. Burgay},
  journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag1538},
  eprint = {2608.11968},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://insu.hal.science/insu-05721677v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Discovery of 27 new Rotating Radio Transients by MeerTRAP
AU  - S. Singh
AU  - J. Tian
AU  - B. W. Stappers
AU  - K. Shaji
AU  - K. M. Rajwade
AU  - L. Levin
AU  - J. D. Turner
AU  - M. C. Bezuidenhout
AU  - M. Caleb
AU  - I. Pastor-Marazuela
AU  - F. Jankowski
AU  - R. Karuppusamy
AU  - E. D. Barr
AU  - M. Kramer
AU  - R. Breton
AU  - C. J. Clark
AU  - T. Thongmeearkom
AU  - M. Burgay
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/11
JO  - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO  - 10.1093/mnras/stag1538
UR  - https://insu.hal.science/insu-05721677v1
AB  - We present the discovery of 27 new Galactic transients made by the commensal MeerTRAP single pulse search programme at the MeerKAT telescope. We determine the location of 14 of these discoveries with arcsecond accuracy by imaging the data captured in the dedicated transient buffer. A preliminary estimate of the period was made for 8 sources using the arrival times of several pulses detected by MeerTRAP. The periods of these transients range between 0.78 s and 4 s. For the previously published MeerTRAP source MTP0040 (PSR J1357-6507), we are able to provide the position and period using new pulses detected since it was reported. We also estimate the radio fluences and discuss the burst rates derived from the commensal search detections. The accurate image-domain localizations were used to conduct follow-up observations and timing analysis. Furthermore, some follow-up observations revealed ordinary pulsar-like pulsed behavior for four of the new sources, illustrating the blurred separation between rotating radio transients and canonical pulsars. We also present coherent timing solutions for 4 sources, providing insight into their rotational properties and their place within the Galactic neutron star population.
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
ER  -

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