Spectrum and Polarization of the Galactic Center Radio Transient ASKAP J173608.2–321635 from THOR-GC and VLITE

Abstract

The radio transient ASKAP J173608.2–321635, at the position ( ℓ , b ) = (356.°0872, −0.°0390), was serendipitously observed by The H i /OH/Recombination line survey of the Galactic center at three epochs in 2020 March, 2020 April, and 2021 February. The source was detected only on 2020 April 11 with a flux density of 20.6 ± 1.1 mJy at 1.23 GHz and in-band spectral index of α = −3.1 ± 0.2. The commensal Very Large Array Low-band Ionsophere and Transient Experiment simultaneously detected the source at 339 MHz with a flux density of 122.6 ± 20.4 mJy, indicating a spectral break below 1 GHz. The rotation measure (RM) in 2020 April was 63.9 ± 0.3 rad m ^−2 , which almost triples the range of the variable RM observed by Wang et al. to ∼130 rad m ^−2 . The polarization angle, corrected for Faraday rotation, was 97° ± 6°. The 1.23 GHz linear polarization was 76.7% ± 3.9% with wavelength-dependent depolarization, indicating a Faraday depth dispersion of ${\sigma }_{\phi }={4.8}_{-0.7}^{+0.5}\ \mathrm{rad}\ {{\rm{m}}}^{-2}$ . We find an upper limit to the circular polarization of ∣ V ∣/ I < 10.1%. Interpretation of the data in terms of diffractive scattering of radio waves by a plasma near the source indicates an electron density and a line-of-sight magnetic field strength within a factor of 3 of n _e ∼ 2 cm ^−3 and B _∥ ∼ 2 × 10 ^5 μ G . Combined with causality limits to the size of the source, these parameters are consistent with the low-frequency spectral break resulting from synchrotron self-absorption, not free–free absorption. A possible interpretation of the source is a highly supersonic neutron star interacting with a changing environment.

Keywords

• Interstellar magnetic fields
• Radio transient sources
• Sky surveys
• Radio bursts
• Galactic radio sources