A highly magnetized long-period radio transient exhibiting unusual emission features.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39823323.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adp6351 and PMC identifier 11740945.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Long-period radio transients are a new class of astrophysical objects that exhibit periodic radio emission on timescales of tens of minutes. Their true nature remains unknown; possibilities include magnetic white dwarfs, binary systems, or long-period magnetars; the latter class is predicted to produce fast radio bursts (FRBs). Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, we conducted follow-up observations of the long-period radio transient GPM J1839-10. Here we report that the source exhibits a wide range of unusual emission properties, including polarization characteristics indicative of magnetospheric origin, linear-to-circular polarization conversion, and drifting substructures closely resembling those observed in repeating FRBs. These radio characteristics provide evidence in support of the long-period magnetar model and suggest a possible connection between long-period radio transients, magnetars, and FRBs.