Pulsar discoveries from the TRAPUM UHF survey of <i>Fermi</i> -LAT sources

ABSTRACT The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) provides advantages for radio pulsar searches by enabling efficient target selection. We can confidently point radio telescopes to the positions of Fermi unidentified gamma-ray sources that have a high probability of hosting a pulsar. As part of Transients and Pulsars with MeerKAT (TRAPUM), we conducted a survey of Fermi-LAT sources using the Ultra High Frequency (UHF; 544–1088 MHz) receiver of the MeerKAT radio telescope. We observed 79 sources that were identified as pulsar-like candidates using a random forest technique from the Fermi-LAT Fourth Source Catalogue. We observed each target for 10 min at two separate epochs. As a result, we discovered nine new millisecond pulsars (MSPs) and six slow pulsars. Based on the radio discoveries, we also searched for gamma-ray pulsations, confirming that seven of the newly discovered MSPs are associated with Fermi-LAT sources, and performed joint radio and gamma-ray pulsar timing. Companion mass estimates and evidence of radio eclipses indicate that among the nine MSPs there are three black widows and three redbacks. Lastly, we compared the discovered pulsars in the MeerKAT UHF survey against the previous Fermi sources TRAPUM survey at L band, concluding the superiority of UHF observations in sensitivity to fainter pulsars and in detection rate than L band for finding new gamma-ray MSPs.

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Publication Details

Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2026-02-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag406
Primary Topic
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Type
article
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article

Pulsar discoveries from the TRAPUM UHF survey of Fermi -LAT sources

L. Nieder, T Thongmeearkom, B. Steltner, Joanna Berteaud et al.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
article

Pulsar discoveries from the TRAPUM UHF survey of Fermi -LAT sources

L. Nieder, T Thongmeearkom, B. Steltner, Joanna Berteaud, A Phosrisom, Francesca Calore, Laila Vleeschower, E D Barr, M R Kennedy, M Burgay, P V Padmanabh, S Buchner, P C C Freire, J-M Grießmeier, B W Stappers, B McGloughlin, O G Dodge, R Karuppusamy, M Kramer, V S Dhillon, M A Papa, I Cognard, S M Ransom, R P Breton, C J Clark, S Belmonte Díaz, L Levin, E C Ferrara
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) provides advantages for radio pulsar searches by enabling efficient target selection. We can confidently point radio telescopes to the positions of Fermi unidentified gamma-ray sources that have a high probability of hosting a pulsar. As part of Transients and Pulsars with MeerKAT (TRAPUM), we conducted a survey of Fermi-LAT sources using the Ultra High Frequency (UHF; 544–1088 MHz) receiver of the MeerKAT radio telescope. We observed 79 sources that were identified as pulsar-like candidates using a random forest technique from the Fermi-LAT Fourth Source Catalogue. We observed each target for 10 min at two separate epochs. As a result, we discovered nine new millisecond pulsars (MSPs) and six slow pulsars. Based on the radio discoveries, we also searched for gamma-ray pulsations, confirming that seven of the newly discovered MSPs are associated with Fermi-LAT sources, and performed joint radio and gamma-ray pulsar timing. Companion mass estimates and evidence of radio eclipses indicate that among the nine MSPs there are three black widows and three redbacks. Lastly, we compared the discovered pulsars in the MeerKAT UHF survey against the previous Fermi sources TRAPUM survey at L band, concluding the superiority of UHF observations in sensitivity to fainter pulsars and in detection rate than L band for finding new gamma-ray MSPs.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 547(4)
Leibniz University Hannover (DE), Université d'Orléans (FR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (US), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), University College Cork (IE), Observatoire de Paris (FR), University of Manchester (GB), Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique Théorique (FR), South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (ZA), Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (DE), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES), Astrophysics Science Division (US), Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (IT), Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (DE), University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (US), University of Maryland, College Park (US), National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (TH), University of Sheffield (GB)
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