Rotationally modulated highly circularly polarised radio pulses from the rapidly rotating M dwarf ASKAP J181335-604720

TL;DR

This study reports the detection of highly circularly polarised, rotationally modulated radio pulses from the M dwarf ASKAP J181335-604720, interpreted as coherent electron cyclotron maser emission from its magnetosphere, with simultaneous optical observations confirming the stellar rotation period.

Contribution

First simultaneous radio and optical detection of rotationally modulated, highly circularly polarised radio pulses from an M dwarf, providing insights into stellar magnetospheric emission mechanisms.

Findings

Radio pulses are highly circularly polarised and recur at fixed rotational phases.

Brightness temperature exceeds 1.8 x 10^12 K, indicating coherent emission.

Radio emission is consistent with electron cyclotron maser radiation from the stellar magnetosphere.

Abstract

We report the detection of strong, highly circularly polarised, and rotationally modulated radio pulses from the early-mid M dwarf ASKAP J181335-604720, based on strictly simultaneous radio and optical observations with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The ASKAP data reveal recurrent broadband radio pulses across 800-1088 MHz, with peak circular polarisation fractions approaching 100%. A dominant period of P = 5.607 +- 0.003 h is derived from the TESS light curve using a Lomb-Scargle analysis, which we interpret as the stellar rotation period. When phase-folded on this period, the radio emission is confined to narrow phase intervals and recurs at fixed rotational phases, consisting of a dominant pulse and a weaker secondary component. No contemporaneous optical flares are detected at the epochs of the radio pulses in the simultaneous TESS data. Even under conservative assumptions, the inferred brightness temperature exceeds Tb > 1.8 * 10^12 K, ruling out incoherent emission mechanisms. Combining the observed characteristics, we interpret the emission as coherent electron cyclotron maser (ECM) radiation arising from the stellar magnetosphere, with the observed frequencies implying local magnetic field strengths of at least several hundred Gauss in the radio-emitting region. This work provides a clean, well-constrained, and strictly simultaneous radio-optical case, demonstrating that coordinated radio and optical observations offer a powerful means of distinguishing magnetospheric coherent radio emission from flare-associated coronal activity in M dwarfs.