Photo: astronomy.com
Astronomers have detected 30 new galactic pulsars using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. The discovery, made as part of the international MeerTRAP project, opens new opportunities for studying fast and transient cosmic phenomena. The results were published at the end of October on the arXiv preprint server.
A team led by Jun Tian of the University of Manchester monitored the sky in the UHF (544–1088 MHz) and L (856–1712 MHz) frequency bands. MeerKAT’s high sensitivity and wide field of view allow it to capture signals lasting only fractions of a second. Most of the detected objects belong to a class of rotating radio transients (RRATs) — neutron stars with intermittent radiation that emit pulses far less frequently than typical pulsars.
Rotation periods were determined for 14 of the pulsars, ranging from 0.121 to 7.62 seconds, along with dispersion measures of 12–394.4 pc/cm³, which reflect the density of the interstellar medium. Pulse energies range from 0.1 to 2 Jy·ms, with typical values of about 0.3–0.7 Jy·ms. The analysis suggests these values likely follow a log-normal distribution.
A key feature of the discovery was the real-time detection of pulses. Using a single-pulse search algorithm, the team was able to capture signals at the moment they occurred, enabling a level of accuracy and responsiveness previously unattainable. This approach provides deeper insight into the dynamics of neutron stars and their interaction with surrounding material.
Researchers say this is only the beginning. The MeerTRAP program is expected to uncover many more RRAT-like pulsars, including slower rotators and weaker emitters. According to the authors, the findings highlight MeerKAT’s status as one of the world’s most powerful instruments in modern radio astronomy and help advance understanding of neutron stars in the context of the transient radio universe.
