A 44-minute periodic radio transient in a supernova remnant

TL;DR

This paper presents the first evidence linking a long-period radio transient to a supernova remnant, supporting the hypothesis that such transients originate from young neutron stars with stable magnetic fields.

Contribution

It reports the discovery of a supernova remnant association with a long-period radio transient, providing new insights into their origin from young neutron stars.

Findings

The transient has a period of approximately 2656 seconds.

The source shows strong polarization, indicating a stable magnetic field.

No optical counterpart was detected despite deep observations.

Abstract

Long-period radio transients (LPTs) are a newly discovered class of radio emitters with periods ranging from minutes to hours. The astrophysical nature remains undetermined, particularly of LPTs with no detectable companions. We report the first evidence for a plausible supernova remnant (SNR) association with an LPT (DART J1832-0911, 2656.23+-0.15 s period), which supports a neutron star origin of such objects. The dispersion measure of this LPT, SNR's CO emission and HI absorption, and low probability of chance of alignment with field pulsars are all consistent with such an association. The source displays either phase-locked circular or nearly 100\% linear polarization, indicating its strong and geometrically stable magnetic field. No detectable optical counterpart was found, even with a 10m-class telescope. The SNR association and the stable polarization suggest that DART J1832-0911 most likely originates from a young neutron star, whose spin could have been braked by supernova's fallback materials. This discovery provides critical insights into the nature of ultra-long period transients and their link to stellar remnants.