Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2835-2863 |
| Number of pages | 29 |
| Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
| Volume | 531 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 21 May 2024 |
| Publication status | Published - 4 Jun 2024 |
Abstract
The sensitivity of the MeerKAT radio interferometer is an opportunity to probe deeper into the population of rare and faint extragalactic pulsars. The TRAPUM (TRAnsients and PUlsars with MeerKAT) collaboration has conducted a radio-domain search for accelerated pulsars and transients in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This partially targeted survey, performed at L band (856–1712 MHz) with the core array of the MeerKAT telescope in 2-h integrations, is twice as sensitive as the latest SMC radio pulsar survey. We report the discovery of seven new SMC pulsars, doubling this galaxy’s radio pulsar population and increasing the total extragalactic population by nearly a quarter. We also carried out a search for accelerated millisecond pulsars in the SMC globular cluster NGC 121 using the full array of MeerKAT. This improved the previous upper limit on pulsed radio emission from this cluster by a factor of 6. Our discoveries reveal the first radio pulsar-PWN systems in the SMC, with only one such system previously known outside our Galaxy (the ‘Crab pulsar twin’ in the Large Magellanic Cloud, PSR J0540−6919). We associate the 59 ms pulsar discovery PSR J0040−7337, now the fastest spinning radio pulsar in the SMC, with the bow-shock Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) of supernova remnant DEM S5. We also present a new young pulsar with a 79 ms period, PSR J0048−7317, in a PWN recently discovered in a MeerKAT radio continuum image. Using the multibeam capability of MeerKAT, we localized our pulsar discoveries, and two previous Murriyang discoveries, to a positional uncertainty of a few arcseconds.
Keywords
- galaxies: individual: Small Magellanic Cloud, ISM: supernova remnants, Magellanic Clouds, pulsars: general, pulsars: individual: PSR J0040−7326, PSR J0040−7335, PSR J0040−7337, PSR J0043−73, PSR J0044−7314, PSR J0048−7317, PSR J0052−72, PSR J0054−7228, PSR J0105−7208, stars: neutron
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Space and Planetary Science
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 531, No. 2, 04.06.2024, p. 2835-2863.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The TRAPUM Small Magellanic Cloud pulsar survey with MeerKAT
T2 - I. Discovery of seven new pulsars and two Pulsar Wind Nebula associations
AU - Carli, E.
AU - Levin, L.
AU - Stappers, B. W.
AU - Barr, E. D.
AU - Breton, R. P.
AU - Buchner, S.
AU - Burgay, M.
AU - Geyer, M.
AU - Kramer, M.
AU - Padmanabh, P. V.
AU - Possenti, A.
AU - Venkatraman Krishnan, V.
AU - Becker, W.
AU - Filipović, M. D.
AU - Maitra, C.
AU - Behrend, J.
AU - Champion, D. J.
AU - Chen, W.
AU - Men, Y. P.
AU - Ridolfi, A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s).
PY - 2024/6/4
Y1 - 2024/6/4
N2 - The sensitivity of the MeerKAT radio interferometer is an opportunity to probe deeper into the population of rare and faint extragalactic pulsars. The TRAPUM (TRAnsients and PUlsars with MeerKAT) collaboration has conducted a radio-domain search for accelerated pulsars and transients in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This partially targeted survey, performed at L band (856–1712 MHz) with the core array of the MeerKAT telescope in 2-h integrations, is twice as sensitive as the latest SMC radio pulsar survey. We report the discovery of seven new SMC pulsars, doubling this galaxy’s radio pulsar population and increasing the total extragalactic population by nearly a quarter. We also carried out a search for accelerated millisecond pulsars in the SMC globular cluster NGC 121 using the full array of MeerKAT. This improved the previous upper limit on pulsed radio emission from this cluster by a factor of 6. Our discoveries reveal the first radio pulsar-PWN systems in the SMC, with only one such system previously known outside our Galaxy (the ‘Crab pulsar twin’ in the Large Magellanic Cloud, PSR J0540−6919). We associate the 59 ms pulsar discovery PSR J0040−7337, now the fastest spinning radio pulsar in the SMC, with the bow-shock Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) of supernova remnant DEM S5. We also present a new young pulsar with a 79 ms period, PSR J0048−7317, in a PWN recently discovered in a MeerKAT radio continuum image. Using the multibeam capability of MeerKAT, we localized our pulsar discoveries, and two previous Murriyang discoveries, to a positional uncertainty of a few arcseconds.
AB - The sensitivity of the MeerKAT radio interferometer is an opportunity to probe deeper into the population of rare and faint extragalactic pulsars. The TRAPUM (TRAnsients and PUlsars with MeerKAT) collaboration has conducted a radio-domain search for accelerated pulsars and transients in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This partially targeted survey, performed at L band (856–1712 MHz) with the core array of the MeerKAT telescope in 2-h integrations, is twice as sensitive as the latest SMC radio pulsar survey. We report the discovery of seven new SMC pulsars, doubling this galaxy’s radio pulsar population and increasing the total extragalactic population by nearly a quarter. We also carried out a search for accelerated millisecond pulsars in the SMC globular cluster NGC 121 using the full array of MeerKAT. This improved the previous upper limit on pulsed radio emission from this cluster by a factor of 6. Our discoveries reveal the first radio pulsar-PWN systems in the SMC, with only one such system previously known outside our Galaxy (the ‘Crab pulsar twin’ in the Large Magellanic Cloud, PSR J0540−6919). We associate the 59 ms pulsar discovery PSR J0040−7337, now the fastest spinning radio pulsar in the SMC, with the bow-shock Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) of supernova remnant DEM S5. We also present a new young pulsar with a 79 ms period, PSR J0048−7317, in a PWN recently discovered in a MeerKAT radio continuum image. Using the multibeam capability of MeerKAT, we localized our pulsar discoveries, and two previous Murriyang discoveries, to a positional uncertainty of a few arcseconds.
KW - galaxies: individual: Small Magellanic Cloud
KW - ISM: supernova remnants
KW - Magellanic Clouds
KW - pulsars: general
KW - pulsars: individual: PSR J0040−7326, PSR J0040−7335, PSR J0040−7337, PSR J0043−73, PSR J0044−7314, PSR J0048−7317, PSR J0052−72, PSR J0054−7228, PSR J0105−7208
KW - stars: neutron
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195284302&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.48550/arXiv.2405.12029
DO - 10.48550/arXiv.2405.12029
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85195284302
VL - 531
SP - 2835
EP - 2863
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
SN - 0035-8711
IS - 2
ER -