Structural and spectral properties of Galactic plane variable radio sources

TL;DR

This study investigates the structural and spectral characteristics of variable radio sources in the Galactic plane, revealing a diverse mix including AGN, H II regions, a radio star, and a planetary nebula, with many sources likely being extragalactic.

Contribution

The paper provides high-resolution VLBI imaging and multi-frequency analysis of variable radio sources, highlighting their diverse nature and the prevalence of AGN in the Galactic plane.

Findings

All sources detected at 5 GHz; only one detected with EVN.

Most sources are resolved out due to scatter broadening or extended structures.

The sample includes AGN, H II regions, a radio star, and a planetary nebula.

Abstract

In the time domain, the radio sky in particular along the Galactic plane direction may vary significantly because of various energetic activities associated with stars, stellar and supermassive black holes. Using multi-epoch Very Large Array surveys of the Galactic plane at 5.0 GHz, Becker et al. (2010) presented a catalogue of 39 variable radio sources in the flux density range 1-70 mJy. To probe their radio structures and spectra, we observed 17 sources with the very-long-baseline interferometric (VLBI) imaging technique and collected additional multi-frequency data from the literature. We detected all of the sources at 5 GHz with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, but only G23.6644-0.0372 with the European VLBI Network (EVN). Together with its decadal variability and multi-frequency radio spectrum, we interpret it as an extragalactic peaked-spectrum source with a size of <~10 pc. The remaining sources were resolved out by the long baselines of the EVN because of either strong scatter broadening at the Galactic latitude <1 deg or intrinsically very extended structures on centi-arcsec scales. According to their spectral and structural properties, we find that the sample has a diverse nature. We notice two young H II regions and spot a radio star and a candidate planetary nebula. The rest of the sources are very likely associated with radio active galactic nuclei (AGN). Two of them also displays arcsec-scale faint jet activity. The sample study indicates that AGN are commonplace even among variable radio sources in the Galactic plane.