Upper Limits on the Radio Pulses from Magnetars and a Central Compact Object with FAST

Abstract

Magnetars and central compact objects (CCOs) are subgroups of neutron stars that show a number of properties distinguished from canonical radio pulsars. We performed radio observations of three magnetars, SGR 0418+5729, 1E 2259+586, and 4U 0142+61, and a CCO, PSR J1852+0040, with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope at 1.25 GHz, aiming to search for radio pulsations in their quiescent states. During two observation epochs, no radio pulses have been detected toward any target above a significance of signal-to-noise ratio = 7 from either the direct folding or blind search. We provided the most stringent upper limit of radio flux (≲2–4 μ Jy) for the magnetars and the CCO. For the magnetars with long periods, the real upper limits are likely 1 order of magnitude larger due to the red noise. The deep radio observations suggest that these magnetars and the CCO are indeed radio-quiet sources or unfavorably beamed.

Keywords

• Pulsars
• Neutron stars
• Magnetars