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Using the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa, an international team of astronomers has detected 26 new Galactic radio transients. Most of them turned out to be rotating radio transients (RRATs). The finding is detailed in a research paper Jan. 14 on the arXiv preprint server.

In general, radio transients are bursts of radio emission of uncertain origin. In the case of radio-emitting neutron stars, such objects are known as pulsars if they appear to flash or pulse as their magnetic axis sweeps across the line of sight to an observer.

RRATs are a subclass of pulsars characterized by sporadic emission. The first objects of this type were identified in 2006 as sporadically appearing dispersed pulses, with frequencies varying from several minutes to several hours. However, the nature of these transients is still unclear. It is assumed that they are ordinary pulsars that experience strong pulses.

Now, a group of astronomers led by James D. Turner of the University of Manchester, UK, reports the detection of new radio transients in our Milky Way galaxy. Their discovery is part of the TRAnsients and Pulsars with MeerKAT (MeerTRAP) project.

"The MeerTRAP real-time search pipeline operates commensally to observations with the MeerKAT telescope. (...) MeerTRAP has discovered these new sources on a better than monthly cadence, highlighting the importance of such commensal observations," the researchers explained.

All in all, the observations identified 26 new Galactic radio transients and most of them appear to be of the RRAT subclass. In addition, two pulsars and one RRAT were found that were independently discovered by other surveys.

According to the paper, the newfound transients have dispersion measures ranging between 8.46 and 346.5 pc/cm³. The spin periods of the identified RRATs range from 1.06 to 17.49 seconds. The RRAT with the longest spin period, designated MTP0044/PSR J2218+2902, is another addition to the growing population of slowly rotating neutron stars that challenge magnetospheric radio emission models.

Furthermore, the astronomers managed to derive timing solutions spanning multiple years for five RRATs. The timing parameters of these objects suggest ages of several million years and low surface magnetic field strengths, which is characteristic for the population of known RRATs.

The authors of the paper noted that two of the detected Galactic radio transients, namely MTP0021/PSR J0219−06 and MTP0023/PSR J1319−4536, showcase complex structure as well as brightness and variability of pulses. Therefore, Turner's team recommends them for further investigation.

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